After his party was written off in Haryana politics in 2019 State Assembly polls, former Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal patriarch Om Prakash Chautala has now embarked on a plan to craft a new political alternative i.e. third front that could challenge the Narendra Modi-led-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2024 general elections.
Faced with an onerous task to revive his beleaguered political outfit in Jatland-Haryana, the INLD supremo is eyeing to join hands with opposition parties across the country to write a successful revival story of his political career.
The octogenarian will be meeting Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar on August 1 to discuss the possibility of launching a third front. Recently, he had met JD (U) general secretary KC Tyagi over the issue in Gurugram.
“I will meet leaders of all opposition parties across the country in the next two months in a bid to bring them together to form a strong third front to challenge the current dispensation. The formal announcement to launch the third front would be made on September 25, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal,” said INLD chief OP Chautala during his first formal media interaction after being released from the prison earlier this month.
Chautala, who was serving a ten-year term in connection with a teachers’ recruitment scam, formally released from Delhi’s Tihar Jail on July 2.
The INLD veteran said, “I had talked to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar over phone and will meet him on August 1 at my residence. I will visit all states to meet other opposition leaders.” We also share cordial relationship with Mamata Banerjee, he said while hinting at meeting the West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief soon.
The talks of an alternate front revived last month when a collection of opposition parties known as the ‘Rashtra Manch’ met at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by Omar Abdullah from National Conference, Samajwadi Party's (SP) Ghanshyam Tiwari, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary, Sushil Gupta from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Binoy Viswam from the Communist Party of India (CPI), Nilotpal Basu from CPI(M) among other leaders.
On a question whether his arch-rival Congress party could be part of the third front, Chautala said that all like-minded parties who want to join us in national interest are welcome.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had also recently said an opposition front cannot be formed without the Congress.
The senior Chautala is known for his oration and organisational skills, however it remains to be seen whether he could facilitate formation of a third front. With age not on his side, the INLD chief already has a major task at hand, i.e. resurrecting his political outfit in Haryana.
Pinning his hopes on the ongoing farmers’ agitation to win over party sympathisers and garner support of the public, Chautala had recently begun his statewide tour and had also met protesting farmers at three border points of Delhi – Singhu, Tikri (along Haryana), and Ghazipur (alongUttar Pradesh) demanding a repeal of the three farm laws enacted by the Centre in September last year
The INLD has been focusing on the farming community aiming to strengthen its base in rural parts of the state. And, Chautala’s release from the prison has also brought hope for the party's revival as he could realign the caste calculations and divide in Jat votes in the state.
Terming the three farm laws as “black laws” implemented by the BJP, the INLD chief said that this is not just farmers’ protest but all communities and sections of society have extended their support to this agitation.
Notably, the INLD is presently unrepresented in the Haryana Assembly after the lone sitting member and Chautala’s younger son, Abhay Chautala had resigned in the wake of farmers’ protests earlier this year.
Barring Abhay, who had retained Ellenabad seat in Sirsa district, over 80 candidates of the INLD had to bite the dust in 2019 Haryana Assembly polls.
For the grand old party- INLD – founded in 1996 by Jat leader Chaudhary Devi Lal himself, there has been a continuous downfall in vote share from 2000 assembly polls. It recorded 29.61 percent vote share in 2000, 26.77 percent in 2005, 25.81 percent in 2009, 24.73 percent in 2014 and a dismal 2.45 percent vote share in 2019.
The split in the party and formation of its splinter group—Jannayak Janata Party led by Chautala’s elder son Ajay has pushed the INLD into political oblivion.
Chautala’s grandson Dushyant Chautala is currently state’s Deputy Chief Minister and JJP is an alliance partner of ruling BJP Government in Haryana. Dushyant has been supporting the farm laws and even slammed INLD and Congress for allegedly trying to gain political mileage out of farmers’ agitation.
While OP Chautala dodged most of the questions about Dushyant during his media interaction, he maintained that INLD vows to take forward the legacy of former deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal.
The INLD chief however slammed his grandson saying the JJP MLA and senior leader Ram Kumar Gautam, who Dushyant considered as his grandfather, left the party. Today, many leaders want to quit the JJP, he added.
MLA Ram Kumar Gautam had last year resigned as JJP party's vice president and had extended support to the farmers’ protest.
Launching a fierce attack on the BJP led Central and Haryana Government, the former Chief Minister further said that this is a corrupt government. Economy is in bad shape and unemployment has increased. Everyone is affected due to the price rise today, he said.
On a question related to Ellenabad bypoll, Chautala said that the BJP is afraid of contesting the bypoll hence postponed it, in the name of COVID-19. We are confident that the INLD candidate will win the Ellenabad bypoll, whenever it happens, he added.