With former Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal patriarch Om Prakash Chautala at the helm, the Jat-centric party managed to retain its bastion-Ellenabad in a triangular electoral battle.
INLD’s Abhay Chautala, younger son of OP Chautala won the Ellenabad assembly seat for the fourth time, trouncing his nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janata Party's joint candidate Gobind Kanda by 6739 votes in the bypoll, which was seen as a “fight of political survival for INLD” and also, a “referendum” on the Manohar Lal Khattar led Haryana Government which has recently completed its seven years tenure amid the ongoing farmers’ agitation.
Abhay, who was perhaps facing the toughest electoral battles of his political life polled 65992 votes, Gobind secured 59253 votes and Congress’ candidate Pawan Beniwal finished at third place with 20904 votes. The Congress candidate could not even save his security deposit in the bypoll, which was primarily seen as BJP-JJP Vs INLD contest.
Beniwal, who had unsuccessfully contested the previous Assembly polls against Chautala, recently switched over from the BJP to the Congress.
About 80 percent polling was recorded in Ellenabad bypoll held on Saturday. A total of 19 candidates were in the fray and NOTA (none of the above) was polled 480 votes.
The bye-election to Ellenabad assembly seat was necessitated after Abhay Chautala, who was INLD’s lone MLA elected to the State Assembly in 2019 had resigned earlier this year in support of ongoing farmers’ agitation against three central farm laws.
For the INLD, which had a dismal run in 2019 State Assembly polls, the much-needed victory is showing signs of its revival in state politics. The decades old Jat -centric political outfit was staring at a bleak future after the formation of its splinter group—Jannayak Janata Party led by Abhay’s elder brother Ajay Chautala in 2018.
For both INLD and JJP, which are vowing to take forward the legacy of former deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal, the bypoll in Chautala citadel was seen as a battle to prove their dominance in the state politics.
Both the ruling BJP-JJP alliance and INLD had gone full throttle in the bypoll with three generations of Chautala family making efforts to turn the tide in their favour. On one side, INLD chief OP Chautala, his son Abhay Chautala and grandsons Karan and Arjun among other family members were seen hitting the campaign trail, the BJP-JJP had Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, his father JJP national chief Ajay Chautala, Dushyant’s brother Digvijay Chautala and Cabinet Minister Ranjit Singh campaigning extensively to wrest the Ellenabad seat from the INLD. Independent MLA Ranjit Singh is brother of OP Chautala.
The octogenarian OP Chautala, after his release from Delhi’s Tihar jail in July this year is leaving no stone unturned in a bid to resurrect his beleaguered political outfit. Infact, the senior Chautala was seen travelling in a modified vehicle given a shape of a chariot, from village to village to reach out to the voters in Ellenabad.
The Chief Minister Manohar Lal, his Cabinet Colleagues, senior BJP and JJP leaders also addressed a large number of election meetings in the assembly segment.
Though Abhay faced severe criticism from the BJP-JJP and Congress for seeking re-election after resigning in protest of three farm laws, the outcome proved that voters supported his decision. Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader Rakesh Tikait also supported Abhay which consolidated INLD’s position among rural voters and the party successfully capitalised on the issue of farmers’ agitation.
The positive outcome has given a hope of revival to INLD as despite all odds, the voters have once again elected and sent Abhay to the State Assembly, political experts said.
Following INLD’s victory, Abhay Chautala termed it as a stamp of approval by people to his pro-farmer agenda. Abhay also demanded resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal on moral grounds after ruling alliance’s defeat in the bypoll.
Talking to mediapersons in Sirsa, Abhay said that the people have taught a lesson to the arrogance of BJP-JJP alliance.
Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda while accepting Congress’ humiliating defeat said that Abhay Chautala should not have resigned from the Ellenabad seat, if he had wanted to contest again. The farmers are still protesting at the Delhi-Haryana border and his resignation did not serve any purpose, Hooda said while slamming the INLD’s leader.
In 2019 assembly polls, INLD’s Abhay Chautala had got around 57,000 votes, then BJP’s candidate Pawan Beniwal polled 45,000 votes, Congress candidate Bharat Singh had secured over 35,000 and JJP’s OP Sihag had got 6,569 votes.
The INLD, which had split in 2018 following a power struggle between two brothers Abhay Chautala and Ajay Chautala, grandsons of Chaudhary Devi Lal had been losing its relevance in regional politics after a series of electoral defeats. Both INLD and JJP are fighting to consolidate their place among the Jat vote base in the state.
Notably, INLD chief OP Chautala, after serving a ten-year term in connection with a teachers’ recruitment scam, was released from Delhi’s Tihar Jail on July 2. Since then, the senior Chautala has conducted a statewide tour and visited the sites of farmers’ agitation in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in an attempt to resurrect the party and strengthen its base among rural population.