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Chautala gets big response; INLD on revival mode

Rajesh Ahuja

CHANDIGARH: The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which received a severe drubbing in the last Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha by-election not long ago, appears to be coming out of political hibernation if one goes by the big public response at the "first'' political rally addressed by its chief Om Parkash Chautala at Sampla on Thursday.

According to political observers here, INLD may have fared badly at the battle of the ballot in the State in the wake of a Congress wave but it still retains its vote bank especially in the Jat land. Virtually playing to the galleries while addressing a rally to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the legendary Sir Chhotu Ram, an ailing Mr. Chautala not only broke his silence about the "performance'' of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress Government but also talked at length about State and national issues which might have an emotive appeal to the masses.

Raking up the imbroglio over the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal, the former Chief Minister asserted that the INLD would ensure its completion if the Centre failed to perform the task after the final verdict of the Supreme Court. "The SYL is Haryana's lifeline and we will not let the State be deprived of its due share of water. We will construct the canal, if need be by going to Punjab,'' he said.

Criticising the Hooda Government for the delay on the SYL Canal matter, he said the Congress had been raising this issue during the run up to the Assembly elections but was "silent and inactive'' after coming to power. He charged that the Congress had failed to resolve the issue even though it was ruling at the Centre as well as in Punjab and Haryana.

Mr.Chautala, who recently underwent surgery at a hospital in New Delhi and came to the rally on a stretcher, exhorted the almost demoralised INLD workers to strengthen the party to face the Lok Sabha polls which could be held any time next year. Even more significantly, he hinted that a third front would be formed against the Congress and the BJP.

He also ridiculed the assurance of Mr.Hooda to give a Government where people lived without fear and alleged that lawlessness had become the order of the day. He stated that Mr. Hooda was taking credit for the rapid development in the State which was the result of the policies and programmes pursued by his regime. Describing the Congress Government as "anti-people'', the INLD supremo alleged that it had reneged on its poll promises such as giving jobs to unemployed people. Rather, it had rendered nearly 15,000 people jobless after coming to power.

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Chautala gets big response; INLD on revival mode

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