Ajay Chautala eyes alliance with BSP

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 21

After a formal split in the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), strategists in Ajay Chautala’s camp are trying to woo the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for an alliance before next year’s parliamentary and Assembly polls.

The BSP already has a pact with the INLD. Efforts by the yet-to-be-launched political party of Ajay’s faction to woo the BSP can lead to an interesting contest between him and his younger brother Abhay Chautala.

Ajay’s younger son Digvijay Chautala, national convener of the Indian National Students Organisation, on Wednesday said an invite was being sent to BSP supremo Mayawati for the party launch in Jind on December 9.

Invites were also being sent to former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav.

Asked whether the new party would make an attempt to enter into an alliance with the BSP, Digvijay evaded a direct reply.

He said his father had made it clear that the party could align with any party except the BJP and Congress. He said elaborate arrangements were being made to make the December 9 rally a success.

Digvijay’s uncle and Leader of Opposition Abhay Chautala pooh-poohed his nephew’s claims. He said Ajay’s party would die a natural death within days of its launch.

He claimed that his brother and nephews would be left with no option but to seek a pardon from party patriarch Om Prakash Chautala.

“The way my elder brother has made an unsuccessful effort to split the INLD at the instance of his sons Dushyant and Digvijay, he should name his party as ‘putra moh party’ (son endearment party),” he said.

He said when Dushyant and Digvijay were expelled for anti-party activities, he had hoped that Ajay would advise them to apologise to their grandfather for the ruckus created by their supporters during the Gohana rally on October 7, but he aggravated the situation.

“Within a month or two, Ajay and his sons will apologise to Chautala and seek re-entry into the INLD,” Abhay said.

He added that the INLD’s doors were even open to outsiders even as Ajay and his sons were members of his family.