INLD back in NDA-fold

Announcing the tie-up here, BJP national president Rajnath Singh, senior BJP leader L K Advani and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala said the main objective of the alliance was to push the Congress-led UPA out of power.

The two parties did not mention about the number of seats each will contest in Haryana. 8220;The alliance is not based on preconditions 8230; in 1998 too I had extended support to Atal Bihari Vajpayee without any conditions attached,8221; said Chautala.

To a poser on the future of the alliance, Rajnath Singh said, 8220;INLD is an uncompromising, anti-Congress force 8230; the alliance will ensure that Congress is voted out of power.8221; Chautala claimed that Congress has vitiated the political atmosphere of the country. 8220;We will together cleanse the atmosphere,8221; he added.

Rajnath claimed that the INLD rejoining the NDA was only the beginning. 8220;I had said months ago that the number of allies will increase,8221; he said.

No representative of any of the NDA constituents were present at the press conference at the BJP headquarters. Om Prakash Chautala claimed his aim was to ensure that the NDA becomes 8220;as strong as it was in 1998.8221;

A joint statement issued by the two parties said INLD and BJP would organise a variety of campaigns to highlight the 8220;anti-kisan farmer, anti-people and corrupt record of Congress.8221; To a poser on BJP8217;s stand on two-party system, L K Advani said 8220;multiplicity of parties8221; was a must for Indian democracy. 8220;It was the BJP which created bipolar polity in the country by uniting parties against the monopoly of Congress,8221; he added.

Advani claimed that with NDA and UPA having been in power, the voters will find it easier this time to make a choice. 8220;We had fought terror, worked for the benefit of the common man and even antagonised the US by conducting a nuclear test 8230; under the UPA regime, the biggest problem is inflation,8221; he said.

When Rajnath was asked about BJP8217;s state unit launching campaign against 8220;corrupt INLD leaders,8221; he replied that when 8220;parties are united under an alliance, they have their individual agenda 8230; no court decision has come out against anyone so far.8221;

During the last Lok Sabha elections, Congress had won nine out of ten seats in Haryana, while the BJP had managed to bag one. BJP has negligible presence in Haryana with the Congress and INLD occupying most of the seats in the state Assembly. Chautala8217;s sharing platform with SAD and JDU chiefs Parkash Singh Badal and Sharad Yadav, both major constituents of NDA, at a rally in Bhiwani recently had given clear indications of a tie-up.