INLD to contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, says Abhay Chautala; claims BJP still 'hand in glove' with JJP

Chandigarh, March 14

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) will contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, senior party leader Abhay Singh Chautala said on Thursday.

On the BJP-JJP alliance ending in the state, Chautala claimed they were still “hand in glove”.

He said his party is the largest organisation in the state with five lakh new members joining it recently.

“We will contest all 10 seats,” he told reporters here.

As soon as the election schedule is announced, “we will hold a meeting of the party’s core committee to decide which candidate has to be fielded from where”.

Taking on the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which was formed after a vertical split in the INLD, Chautala said, “Had the JJP separated from the BJP, then it would not have issued a whip asking its MLAs to remain absent during the trust vote in the Assembly yesterday.”

“Rather, they would have asked them to remain present and vote against the government. The whip which they issued clearly shows that they wanted to help the BJP. They are still hand in glove,” he added.

The Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government in Haryana on Wednesday won a trust vote. The BJP named Saini as Haryana’s new chief minister on Tuesday, hours after the surprise resignation of Manohar Lal Khattar from the post along with his Cabinet ministers. Khattar led the BJP-JJP coalition government.

Chautala said ever since the BJP-JJP Government assumed office, unemployment increased, there was price rise, law and order collapsed, and drug menace increased.

On the BJP leadership effecting a change in leadership in Haryana, the INLD leader said, “Everyone witnessed the political drama which unfolded.”

“Manohar Lal Khattar had to go as CM because when the Centre got a report prepared for the Lok Sabha polls from the agencies concerned, it came to the fore that if the Assembly polls are held under his leadership, then BJP will draw a blank. Even in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP would have to suffer if he continued. But people are wise; they are not going to fall in this trap of the BJP.”

“Not only will people teach them a lesson in the Lok Sabha election but also vote them out in the Assembly election,” he claimed.

He said people will keep the Congress at bay, too.