‘Only INLD understands people’s woes’

Abhay Singh Chautala, MLA from Ellenabad in Sirsa district, has led the INLD from the front since January 2013 when his father, former CM OP Chautala, and elder brother Ajay Singh Chautala were convicted in a scam. He was Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly till a split in the party. The Tribune reporter Sushil Manav spoke with him on his party’s prospects in the coming parliamentary elections. Excerpts:   

How do you view your party’s prospects? 

The result of this parliamentary poll will show that the people of Haryana wanted to get rid of the BJP as well as the Congress. Wherever the BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, party’s election incharge Kalraj Mishra, Union Minister Rao Inderjit and others, have gone, all have faced opposition from the people during public meetings. The Congress is a badly divided house. Rahul Gandhi has to make all leaders sit in a bus to show unity, but even then, Kuldeep Bishnoi refused to sit in it. People know that only the INLD understands their problems and they will vote for our party.     

Your brother Ajay Chautala’s family has floated  Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) which is contesting the polls in alliance with AAP. Do you think the JJP-AAP alliance will harm the INLD?    

The people will not accept this alliance because Arvind Kejriwal said during Punjab elections that his party would not give a drop of water to Haryana. AAP claims to vouch for transparency in politics, but the party has stuck an alliance with JJP, whose founder Ajay Chautala has been convicted in a corruption case. The people will reject this alliance.

What will be your party’s position in the upcoming poll? How many seats do you expect to win?  

I won’t say the INLD will win all  10 seats. But definitely, our party will perform well and the results will be good...better than what we had in the 2014 polls. People want the BJP government to go, but they are not happy with the Congress either. The INLD will have a role in the next government to be constituted after the elections.

Will someone from your immediate family contest the polls this time?  

This will depend on circumstances. We will take a call on whether to field a family member or not based on circumstances.

Will former CM Om Prakash Chautala campaign for the INLD ?  

We are expecting him to be with us. But people have noticed that the JJP has been playing ‘dirty politics’ with its alliance partner AAP to keep Chautala away from campaigning. While the AAP government opposed Chautala’s parole on the plea that he would campaign in the poll, Ajay Chautala has been allowed furlough without any rider.