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Journalism of Courage
UNDERLINING the inherent contradictions within the INDIA bloc, an INLD rally organised to mark founder Devi Lal’s 110th birth anniversary in Kaithal, Haryana, on Monday saw many invited leaders stay away, even as the Congress came under criticism from some of the speakers.
The Congress, a contender against the INLD in Haryana, was invited for the meeting but stayed away. Meanwhile, one of the leaders present, the JD(U)’s K C Tyagi, urged that the united Opposition include the INLD, which is not part of INDIA.
The Om Prakash Chautala-led outfit had sent out invitations to most parties of the INDIA bloc. Those who attended included the Trinamool Congress (Derek O’Brien), National Conference (Farooq Abdullah), and the JD(U). While JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and TMC supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had reportedly confirmed their attendance, they stayed away.
While Mamata is nursing an injury, the INLD said Nitish had to attend some other event. One of the events where the Bihar CM made an appearance on Monday was a function in Patna to mark BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary.
As per INLD sources, apart from Nitish and Mamata, other INDIA leaders who had confirmed their presence but did not attend included the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray, the NCP’s Sharad Pawar, and the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav.
While non-INDIA leaders such as the Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Singh Badal and Prem Singh Chandumajra were present, the party has old ties to the INLD. Similar was the case of Haryana BJP leader and former Union minister Birender Singh.
With the Akali Dal’s overtures towards the BJP taking a hit amidst tensions with Canada and the Centre’s aggressive anti-Khalistan talk, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal urged regional parties to come together. “All regional parties should unite under one platform to form the next government in the country. Regional parties could do the utmost for their regions. We have witnessed speedy progress in all states where regional parties play a dominant role, like the Akali Dal, INLD and National Conference.”
He added: “Today some parties are trying to create communal tension to polarise votes. See what happened in Manipur and Nuh (Haryana). India cannot progress like this. There is a need to make all the minorities feel safe in this country.”
In his speech, O’Brien said: “All political parties, be it the TMC, Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Aam Admi Party, DMK or National Conference or Shiv Sena or NCP… to make Bharat and India win, we have to fight together. We have got to defeat Modi, defeat the BJP. I suggest that everybody keep their egos in their pockets and fight together as INDIA.”
Tyagi said: “The NDA had the JD(U), Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, INLD… Now all of us have moved out of the NDA. Now there is INDIA that is competing with the NDA… We can never fight this battle with small hearts. In Haryana too, if this battle has to be won, we need to gather around Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala and the INLD. We are ready to lose all 10 Lok Sabha seats of Haryana to the BJP, but we are not ready to join hands!… The INLD shall be part of this alliance in our fight against BJP.”
Farooq Abdullah accused the BJP of deliberately not getting elections conducted in J&K, as “they know that they cannot win in Jammu”.
The INLD’s lone MLA, Ellenabad legislator Abhay Chautala, attacked both the BJP and Congress and asked people to keep them out of power. INLD Om Prakash Chautala urged the people to support his son Abhay Chautala to form the government in the state. Chautala also announced a string of promises if the party won.
In his speech, the Bhim Army’s Azad said Opposition unity can “bring anarchy and dictatorship to an end and ensure that the Constitution of India stands protected”.
On many leaders not attending the rally, Abhay Chautala told The Indian Express: “Nitish Kumar ji had some other event to attend. Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav had his own programme on September 25. Sharad Pawar was busy with his party affairs… I invited Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too… However, there were several other top leaders who attended the rally.”
Asked about the INLD rally, Congress leader and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “The Congress is fully competent to form the government in Haryana on its own. It does not need anybody else in the state.”
The Jannayak Janata Party, led by Chautala’s grandson and Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, held a separate rally – in Rajasthan’s Sikar – to celebrate Devi Lal’s birth anniversary. The JJP is aiming to contest 25-30 seats in Rajasthan polls, with an eye on the Jat vote.
