The Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) national president Abhay Chautala declared that his party would seek to keep both the BJP and Congress out of power and form its own government in Haryana.
Drawing a parallel with Devi Lal’s 1989 birthday rally at Delhi’s Boat Club, Chautala said that gathering had conveyed a political message that the Congress was on its way out and a Janata Dal government under Devi Lal was coming to power.
Chautala repeatedly invoked the political relationship of Devi Lal and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala with Mewat, saying the two leaders had continued to visit the region irrespective of whether they were in government or opposition. The political messaging was sharply directed at both major parties. Messages from Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary were also conveyed at the rally, while Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary addressed the gathering.
Addressing the INLD’s Samman Diwas rally in Mewat for the first time to mark Devi Lal’s 113th birth anniversary, INLD national president Abhay Chautala said, “The BJP will be removed from power, the Congress will be kept away from power and INLD will form the government,” Chautala sought to frame the rally as the beginning of a fresh political mobilisation. Chautala described the BJP government as “anti-people” and alleged that Haryana, once identified with agriculture, sports and employment, was now being discussed for drugs, unemployment, crime, paper leaks and farmers’ protests. “Today’s rally has also made it clear that the BJP is going out of power, the Congress will be kept away and an INLD government will be formed,” he said. The party said its next phase of mobilisation would begin in November, when Chautala and state president Rampal Majra would undertake a village-to-village campaign to attack the policies and records of both the BJP and Congress.
