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Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 17
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala today announced candidates for six Lok Sabha constituencies, refielding sitting MP Charanjeet Singh Rori from Sirsa, who polled over 5 lakh votes in 2014, defeating Congress state chief Ashok Tanwar by over 1 lakh votes.
The party has fielded five new faces — Ram Pal Valmiki, a four-time Yamunanagar councillor, is the Ambala (Reserved) candidate; Dharambir Pada will contest the Karnal seat; district working president Surender Chikara the Sonepat; former district president Mahendra Singh Chauhan the Faridabad seat and Suresh Kot the Hisar seat.
“For Hisar, an important seat for the INLD, we have picked Suresh Kot, who remained connected with the farmers’ struggle and played a role in the Jat reservation stir,” Abhay told mediapersons. “For the Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Gurugram seats, we will announce names in a few days after consultations with INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala,” he said, adding that a woman could be one of the candidates.
On the BJP’s victory prospects, he claimed: “The BJP candidates, during campaigning, are facing people’s ire.” Regarding the poll pact between the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he replied: “The alliance has been struck only to keep Om Prakash Chautala behind bars. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had mentioned in his party manifesto for Punjab (in 2017) that they would not allow a drop of water to flow to Haryana. If our government is voted to pwer, we will ensure water from the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, even if we have to stop the flow from the Moonak canal (which provides water to Delhi).”
On the SAD-BJP alliance, he said the Chautalas had family ties with the Badals, “but they can’t ignore Haryana.” He didn’t take a question on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attaching properties of Om Prakash Chautala. The former leader of the Opposition demanded CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s apology for the April 12 police lathi-charge on Industrial Training Institute (ITI) students in Karnal.
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