Abhay Chautala sets ball rolling for Haryana Assembly polls 2024; promises Rs 21,000 dole to unemployed, free LPG, Rs 1,100 to homemakers

The younger son of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, Abhay reminded that his grandfather Devi Lal had launched a monthly old age pension of Rs 100 after he formed the Lok Dal government in state in 1987. Under the BJP-JJP alliance government currently, there is a provision old age pension of Rs 2,500 per month, which will be increased to Rs 2,750 in the next fiscal.

In an attempt to mobilise support for the his party INLD, Abhay had started his padyatra from a village in Nuh district on February 24. According to Abhay, he has already covered over 150 villages apart from towns in five districts — Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari, Palwal and Nuh—while walking for nearly 600 kms. The INLD leader has plans to cover 2,000 villages and all towns of the state in the next six months while walking for 4,200 kms.

“After interacting with people from different areas, I have realised that they are upset with the policies of the current BJP-JJP regime in Haryana. Not only this, they don’t have sympathy for the Congress too as it had ruled the state for nearly 10 years before BJP came to power in 2014,” said Abhay.

He pointed out shortage of teachers in government schools, problem of drinking water in villages and urban areas and shortage of technical staff in state-run hospitals and dispensaries.

In his public meetings, Abhay asks farmers whether their income has doubled as promised by the BJP earlier. “Are you happy or troubled with this government? Do you want a change or not,” he asks, before adding, “Instead of fulfilling promises made before polls, this government has introduced such laws which have only upset the people.”

His estranged nephew and deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, who had formed the Jannayak Janta Party following a split in the INLD in 2018, remains the main target of Abhay in his public meetings. Dushyant is the elder son of Abhay’s elder brother Ajay Singh Chautala.

“People hate the JJP. Had he (Dushyant) remained with our party, he would have become CM in 2019. Ajay Singh was enjoying great respect in the INLD. We made him (Dushyant) Lok Sabha MP from Hisar in 2014. Not only this, later in the same year we fielded him for an Assembly poll too to establish him in politics,” Abhay said.

After winning 10 assembly seats in 2019 polls, the JJP had joined hands with BJP to form the government. Dushyant has already announced that the JJP will contest the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP.