Hisar, January 1: For the first time after the split in the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Abhay Chautala and his nephew Dushyant Chautala will face off on the poll turf. The poll arena is Jind, where the byelection is scheduled for January 28.
Dushyant and his father Ajay Chautala have formed a new party — the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) — which will make its debut in the Jind byelection.
Political experts say the byelection would be an opportunity for both the INLD and the JJP to show their strength in the state politics in general and against each other in particular. They also say the byelection would help INLD workers and supporters to settle the dilemma about whom to vote for — the INLD or the JJP.
“Supporters of the Lok Dal ideology, which opposes the BJP and the Congress, are confused ever since the fissures in the Chautala family surfaced. The JJP has a bigger challenge as it will be its first electoral fight before the party faces the real challenge in the Assembly elections next year,” said Pawan Kumar Bansal, a commentator on the Haryana politics. Dushyant says that the JJP is ready for the electoral fight.
He apparently realised the importance of the byelection soon after the formation of the JJP and started preparing for it ever since. He has met three-time MLA Mange Ram Gupta in Jind. Gupta or his son Mahavir could be the JJP’s nominee.
The INLD, for its part, could prefer a Jat nominee as most of its rival parties are likely to field non-Jats. The party is in alliance with the BSP.
Abhay has been taking a dig at the JJP by calling it a “bachon ki party” (a party comprising children). In Sonepat last week, he had said the bypoll would show the JJP its place in the state politics. He had even predicted that the party would disintegrate after the byelections.
Source Tribune India
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