Splinter faction ‘can dent’ poll prospects of INLD

Vishal Joshi

The breakaway group of the INLD is set to be formally launched in Jind on December 9. Political experts say that the new front will be an electoral threat to the INLD.

Ajay Singh Chautala, who is serving a jail term in the JBT recruitment scam, had announced the formation of a new party at the Jind rally on November 17. His elder son Dushyant Chautala, Lok Sabha MP from Hisar, is all set to lead the new regional party.

Ajay Chautala, while announcing to part ways with the INLD, had told his loyalists that Dushyant would abide by the popular directions of their supporters.

Kushal Pal, a political commentator, says that the new outfit may face several political challenges but it can severely dent the electoral prospects of the INLD. He adds there are several examples of heavyweight leaders of national parties floating their own regional political parties only to return to the parent organisations later.

He says that it is probably for the first time in Haryana that an important regional party has seen a split. Like the INLD, its breakaway faction is also banking on the legacy of late Prime Minister Choudhary Devi Lal by claiming to be his ‘true heirs’. And both factions will eventually be targeting the traditional supporters of the INLD, he adds.

“Dushyant Chautala, who is the youngest MP, has evolved his own following in the last four years. Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), INLD’s student body, was groomed by Ajay Chautala and a sizeable part of its youth leadership supports Dushyant,” says Pal, state coordinator of ‘Lokniti’, a social science research programme of the Centre for Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi.

Political analysts say Dushyant, who has been projecting himself as a farmer leader, is getting the attention of various sections of society. But “ad hoc political groups” have a brief lifespan and in order to present itself as a political alternative, the splinter INLD faction may go in for an alliance with another party, says another expert.

“What political moves a few BJP leaders take in the next few months will be watched carefully. There are prominent faces having a clout in various constituencies. They also have high political ambitions and may open their cards later,” says yet another expert. But the splinter group will certainly focus on the core supporters of the INLD among Jats, Muslims, Dalits and Sikhs, he adds. 

“The charge against Abhay Chautala of being rude to Ajay Chautala’s supporters is also seen as a move to garner the sympathy of disgruntled party activists,” he says.