INLD tests waters in Rohtak after Cong setback in Assembly polls

The Congress losing the last Assembly polls—a setback for the Hoodas, who are considered all-powerful in the state Congress—appears to have opened the doors for the Chautala family to regain a foothold in their old stronghold.

INLD leader Abhay Chautala is preparing to organise a rally to mark the anniversary of former Deputy PM Devi Lal in Rohtak on September 25. It has, however, stirred unease in the Congress camp in the Rohtak region, as a former CM, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has held sway for the past two decades.

It has been a blow hot and cold political relationship between the Chautala family and people of Rohtak district, known as the political capital of Haryana for the past five decades.

Chautala’s renewed focus on Rohtak is seen as a strategic attempt to tap into the reported ‘disappointment’ among the people of Rohtak—especially Jats—who had pinned hopes on the Hoodas returning to power in the last Assembly polls. There are now murmurs of ‘strategic failure’ on the part of the father-son duo—Hooda and his son, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda.

A section of Jats in Rohtak is reportedly upset and finding it difficult to come to terms with the Congress's loss—a party they had supported, largely due to the Hoodas.

Balwan Singh Suhag, an INLD leader in Rohtak—who joined the party recently—said people were upset with the Hoodas. “People believe that the Congress lost the government, which was a done deal, and blame the Hoodas for it,” he said.

Congress Rohtak urban district president Kuldeep Singh KD, however, denied any resentment among the people, claiming that the INLD was no longer a force in the region. “Some people are traditionally opposed to the Congress and are going with the INLD,” he said.

Until the BJP emerged as a force in Haryana in 2014, the traditional rivalry had been between the Congress and the INLD, with Jats historically siding with the latter during the leadership of Devi Lal, who got elected from the Meham Assembly segment in 1987 and as MP from Rohtak in 1989. But he lost three successive Lok Sabha elections from Rohtak to Hooda—in 1991, 1996, and 1998.

Later, the INLD wrested the Rohtak seat from Hooda in 1999, when Inder Singh won from here. However, later, the Hooda father-son duo continued to win the seat—except in 2019, when Arvind Sharma won it for the BJP.