Chautala clan feud fodder for rivals

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22

Electioneering has reached a feverish pitch for the Jind bypoll. Candidates of the BJP, Congress, INLD and JJP have been using all possible means to poach on votes of others in a bid to consolidate their own position.

Congress candidate Randeep Surjewala on Tuesday used the cancellation of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s furlough to make inroads into Jat votes, in a majority in the Assembly segment.

“One who could not prove true to his own grandfather and grandmother cannot be true to you. Those who do not think of their own clan cannot think of doing any welfare for the people of Jind,” Surjewala said in a series of meetings in Jind in an obvious attack on JJP-backed Digvijay Chautala.

Besides Surjewala, Digvijay and INLD nominee Umed Redhu are Jats. All three have been pinning hopes on a sizeable share of votes from the community. Launching an attack on the JJP and INLD, Surjewala said due to the family feud, a grandmother had to go to the extent of asking her grandsons not to touch her funeral pyre after her death.

“Whatever riches Dushyant and Digvijay have are due to their grandfather. If these two brothers get their 86-year-old grandfather’s furlough cancelled and force him to return to jail in the thick of the night, they can never think of the welfare of the common man of Jind,” he said.

Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, who campaigned for BJP candidate Krishan Middha, attacked the INLD and JJP over the family feud. “Members of the Chautala clan have been fighting for the distribution of property. In a fight for the Chief Minister’s chair, they are levelling all kinds of allegations against each other. In such a situation, people should not expect their welfare from the INLD or JJP,” he said.

Dabwali MLA Naina Chautala defended her sons, saying all other parties were frustrated after looking at the popularity of Dushyant Chautala and Digvijay.