‘Will give unconditional support to any government formed against BJP’: INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala

Excerpts:

You are contesting a Lok Sabha election after 20 years. Your thoughts?

Yes, I last contested in 2004, that too from Kurukshetra. As far as the 2024 elections are concerned, the BJP is under a huge misconception about their position. The BJP is facing resentment all across India. But in Haryana, people, especially farmers, are so upset with the ruling party. Three farm laws took over 700 farmers’ lives. They protested for over 13 months and went through so much hardship and finally made the government withdraw these black laws. People in Haryana are still upset with the BJP about this. I seriously do not think the BJP will be able to win even two out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.

Recently, one more strange issue has come up. Former chief minister Manohar Lal [Khattar] has said that he would not go to Haryana villages for votes. Now, 85 per cent of Haryana lives in villages. Does he want to create a divide among rural and urban areas? This was not expected of a CM who remained in power for 9.5 years.

Both the BJP and the JJP ruled the state in the last 4.5 years and both looted the state. Youth is upset because more than 40 papers were leaked…we saw over 20 scams, including paper leaks, a registry scam etc. The government ordered an inquiry but put that on hold later.

Guest teachers were promised they would be regularised but first Congress spent 10 years and now this BJP-JJP government did not do anything for their permanent employment. These lakhs of teachers have been threatened by cases, loss of jobs and other consequences if they protest against the government. Contractual Asha workers and MNREGA [Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act] workers are also agitated. Hundred days of MNREGA have been reduced to 25 days of employment by this BJP government.

How big is your challenge to fight BJP’s Naveen Jindal and INDIA bloc’s Sushil Gupta in Kurukshetra?

Naveen Jindal had left Kurukshetra 10 years ago saying I do not have time for politics and will focus on my business. Now the BJP has made him join the party and contest the election by threatening through the ED (Enforcement Directorate). Jindal is facing a trial in a coal scam.

I have just got some information and I am sharing with you first that Jindal is reaching out to all village sarpanches and luring them with Rs 20 lakh each to persuade agitated farmers in favour of the BJP. Jindal has deployed a special person…for this task. I have also put my people on task to get into this matter and find out if it is true. In this way, he is not here to fight the election democratically but to buy votes in his favour through money power. I will complain to the EC (Election Commission) about it.

The INLD used to be a force in Haryana politics. How are you trying to revive the party?

It is still a huge force in Haryana. If BJP can form government at the Centre with just 2 Lok Sabha seats, why can’t INLD? We were a far bigger party. I fully rely on my workers. This party gave India its four prime ministers. Chaudhary Devi Lal was chosen for the Prime Minister’s post but he gave support to V P Singh and made him the PM. The INLD also helped Chandrasekhar ji and Deve Gowda ji become PMs. We also helped Lalu Yadav and Mulayam Singh become CMs in their respective states.

The INLD still has a solid voter base on the ground. When in 2014, the BJP was claiming that they would win all seats in the north, we stopped them. We won two seats and Congress won one in Haryana.

Even now, I can bet on this, the BJP is going to face the biggest defeat in Haryana in the 2024 elections. The INLD will emerge as the biggest force in the state. From Chaudhary Devi Lal to O P Chautala, the INLD has helped regional parties grow and will continue doing that in this democracy. We will also form the government in the upcoming Assembly elections.

You embarked on a ‘Parivartan Yatra’ in Haryana last year. Your learnings?

It has been a great learning experience. I started my yatra from the Mewat region in Haryana. I visited 30 villages in one constituency and covered approximately 2,600 villages and towns in all 90 Assembly constituencies in the state.

I talked to people and listened to them and their opinions. In the process, I came to know about each village’s problems. I also shared my vision and blueprint for the state. In Haryana villages, roads are in bad shape, schools are running without teachers and there is a scarcity of drinking water and basic health facilities. Our hospitals in rural belts still have 40 per cent doctors shortage and as a consequence, the common man is suffering.

The yatra also helped me revive our party cadre who was disheartened by our party split. They felt like someone was still there to hold their hand.

The BJP government has worked arbitrarily. No state other than Haryana has the provision of property ID and to implement this scheme they hired a firm from Gujarat for a budget of Rs 150 crore. There have been multiple cases of anomalies in property ownership and the government has admitted that 90 per cent of IDs have mistakes. I raised all these issues in the Assembly and put pressure on the government to either withdraw it or correct the data.

Will the farmers’ anger translate to votes against the BJP or will PM Modi’s image outweigh it?

[PM Narendra] Modi has no image left. He tells one lie after another. He has tarnished India’s image with his lies and social media has caught him lying on multiple occasions. His false claims and promises are viral on the internet. From the promise of Rs 15 lakh [in people’s accounts] to law on MSP [minimum support price], control on inflation, 2 crore jobs…has he delivered any of his promises? People have understood him. He has sold everything including rail, aviation, banks and insurance. He waived off industrialists’ loans. How can you make Viksit Bharat by selling off everything in the country? The BJP will not be able to cross even the 200-seat mark in the 2024 general elections.

How do you see the political prospects of JJP – a party born out of a split with INLD and your own family?

The JJP garnered good support with a 17 per cent vote share as the people believed it would fulfil the dreams of Chaudhary Devi Lal’s principles. But we saw the party become the partner in loot. Now in the last 4.5 years of power, the JJP is alleged to have been involved in multiple scams. A recent report has revealed that a liquor scam worth Rs 9,500 crore was done by the department headed by Dushyant Chautala himself. Dushyant has tarnished his image and I don’t think his JJP will be able to get even 7 per cent of votes.

If you manage to win some seats in Lok Sabha, would you support the BJP or the INDIA bloc?

The Bhupinder Singh Hooda group in the Congress has spread a lie that Abhay Singh Chautala will help the BJP, whereas Hooda himself is working in favour of the BJP. In 2016, we saw how he went against the common decision taken by the Congress and INLD in the Rajya Sabha elections that we all will support Advocate R K Anand. He left his ballot paper blank and his 14 MLAs’ votes were found invalid as they changed their pens. Due to the difference in the ink, the votes were declared invalid. His close friend and BJP candidate Subhash Chandra won the election due to Hooda.

Even in the Karnal Lok Sabha seat, Maratha Virender Verma was the frontrunner for the INDIA bloc seat but due to the Hooda camp, newcomer Divyanshu Budhiraja has been fielded which can make things easy for Manohar Lal. Now I am supporting the Nationalist Congress Party candidate Verma to stop Manohar from winning. Now tell me who is supporting the BJP?

If the BJP offers anyone to come along to form the government, it can be someone from the Congress. Let me assure you that no member of the INLD will ever support the BJP. Instead, I will give unconditional support to any government formed against the BJP.