Haryana polls: INLD bets on sympathy for to-be-jailed Om Prakash Chautala

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has decided to play the sympathy card in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state after its senior-most leader Om Prakash Chautala was asked to surrender by the Delhi high court in the Teacher Recruitment Scam case. Unfazed by the court order — which would put INLD’s biggest crowd puller in jail — INLD leaders have changed their campaign strategy and are going to the electorate with the charge that the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has misused the CBI to incarcerate Chautala.

“The Prime Minister was getting nervous after Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala started pulling huge crowds at his rallies in the state,” Chautala’s grandson and Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala said. The CBI had appealed to the Delhi high court to cancel the bail given to Chautala on medical grounds until October 17. The 79-year-old leader has been convicted by a CBI court for ten years in the scam during his tenure from 2000-05. “His arrest will give a boost to our campaign,” Dushyant Chautala said. Chautala’s rallies drew large crowds.
Modi directly attacked the INLD leader and charged him with graft and promoting dynastic politics. Chautala’s son Abhay is holding the rallies that the former was scheduled to address. He has been raising the issue of his father’s arrest and how Modi is responsible for it. Dushyant and Abhay have also been telling the electorate in their rallies that OP Chautala has been wrongly indicted in the graft case. “We (INLD) talk about generating jobs. Unless there is employment, how can there be progress? He (OP Chautala) was only trying to create jobs for the youth. Even the judge has said that there was no exchange of money,” Dushyant said.