Will contest Delhi Assembly polls: Indian National Lok Dal

JIND: The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) will contest the upcoming Assembly polls in Delhi, party leader and Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala said here today.

"INLD will put up five to 10 candidates for the Delhi Assembly polls, which the party will contest in association with JD(U)," Chautala told reporters at his party's office here.

Chautala said that INLD will only contest the seats in the rural areas of outer Delhi in the Feb. 7 elections.

He said the party had entered into an understanding with JD(U) with an eye only on the Delhi polls and any decision on the proposal for a merger of Janata Parivar offshoots would be taken by INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala.

Constituents of the erstwhile Janata Parivar -- among them RJD, JD(U), SP, JD(S) and INLD -- are exploring a possible merger to present a united front against the BJP-led NDA alliance.

The move to join forces was made public in December of last year when SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had hosted a lunch for the leaders of these parties.

Earlier this month, asked about the proposed merger, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav had said that things were "moving in the right direction" but declined to answer as to why it had not happened yet.