Constituents of the Opposition INDIA bloc on Monday sought “complete unity” of allies after the Congress skipped the Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) ‘Samman Diwas Samaroh’ rally in Haryana’s Kaithal.
INLD secretary general Abhay Chautala had called on Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge two days ago in Delhi to invite him for the rally, which was held to coincide with the 110th birth anniversary of INLD founder Chaudhary Devi Lal. The party, unlike the previous year, had also invited the Aam Aadmi Party, which also chose to skip the event.
In a veiled attack on the Congress, Janata Dal (United) leader K.C. Tyagi said “big things can’t be accomplished with a small heart” and the Bharatiya Janata Party cannot be defeated without “complete unity”.
Addressing a press conference along with Mr. Tyagi in Chandigarh last week, Mr. Abhay Chautala had said the INLD is not averse to an alliance with the Congress to defeat the BJP. However, State Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda ruled out an alliance with the INLD in Haryana, saying that his party is capable of winning the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls on its own.
Mr. Tyagi said the foundation of the INDIA bloc was laid last year in Fatehabad at the rally to mark Devi Lal’s birth anniversary and no political unity is possible in the State and at the national level without the INLD. “We need to unite around the INLD if we need to win the battle in Haryana. You are ready to lose all 10 seats but not ready for a partnership?” said the JD(U) leader, alluding to the Congress losing all 10 parliamentary seats in the State to the BJP in 2019.
Mr. Tyagi said a new atmosphere was created in the country with the founding members of the NDA quitting the coalition and a new political alliance, INDIA, emerging to compete against it.
‘Walk together’
National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah urged leaders to shed differences in order to take the country forward. “I just want to say that the Congress, Badals, and Chautalas must walk together,” he said. Mr. Abdullah added that elections were not being conducted in Jammu and Kashmir because those in power were not sure of winning the polls and made an appeal to all countrymen to speak up for the people of the Union Territory.
He also questioned the denial of reservation to the Other Backward Classes and Muslim women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies and asked if they are not citizens of this country.
Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is not part of the Opposition INDIA bloc, said regional parties are the true representatives of the masses and must unite under one flag. He attacked the Aam Aadmi Party’s government in Punjab, saying that the people of the State feel cheated.
Attacking the Congress, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala blamed the party for hatching a conspiracy to send him to jail in a teachers’ recruitment scam. “The Congress sent me to jail as part of a conspiracy. Those who got jobs were promoted, but those who gave them were sent to jail,” he said.
