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INLD may contest Chandigarh seat

By Rajesh Ahuja

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 2 .The political scenario for the lone Lok Sabha seat from the City Beautful is likely to undergo a sea change with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) deciding to contest the seat to spread its wings beyond Haryana.

Interestingly, the Haryana Chief Minister and INLD supremo, Om Prakash Chautala, sprung this surprise at a press conference at Jhajjar in Haryana this afternoon and though he did not announce the name of the candidate, insiders say that the former Union Minister, Harmohan Dhawan, is almost certain to be the INLD nominee. Interestingly, Mr.Dhawan is considered very close to the former Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar, and Mr.Chautala. He had won the seat in 1989.

There was speculation in political circles that Mr.Dhawan, who had been expelled from the Congress in 2001, could join the Bharatiya Janata Party while a handful of his close associates were trying to mend fences with the outgoing MP, Pawan Kumar Bansal, in a bid to be taken back into the Congress. Interestingly, Mr.Chautala, who spent considerable time at the marriage reception of Mr.Dhawan's son last Saturday, did not say anything about contesting the election from Chandigarh during his interaction with the media here last evening. Significance is being attached to Mr.Chautala's observation at Jhajjar that Mr.Dhawan was already supporting the INLD.

Even though the major political players, including the BJP and the Congress, have not commented on this latest development, political observers feel that the entry of Mr.Dhawan into the election arena will turn the traditional battle between the Congress and the BJP into a triangular match and could upset "political calculations.'' Insiders, however, say that the political equations could now change and it would be a million dollar question whether Mr.Dhawan's close associates, including Devinder Singh Babla, remain with him or pursue their efforts to rejoin the Congress which had expelled them for anti-party activities.

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