Only 'selfish people' left INLD says Abhay Chautala

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     Chandigarh, Jul 22 (PTI) Faced with a series of desertions over the past eight months after the party split, senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala said only "selfish people" left them, who will be rejected by people.
     Despite a split in Indian National Lok Dal last year following a feud in the Chautala family, Abhay maintained that their leadership was intact.
     When asked about the leaders who left the party with Rania MLA Ram Chander Kamboj becoming the latest MLA to quit, Abhay said, "Those who have left us on selfish grounds will soon realise their mistake."
     He claimed that those who ditched them in the past had to face political wilderness.     
     "People will reject them. How will people trust them when they have left their own party on selfish grounds," Abhay Chautala said on Monday.
     He claimed that some of the MLAs who switched over to other parties, especially the BJP, had started realising their mistake.
     Citing an example of one such legislator, the INLD leader said, "The MLA recently tried to meet the chief minister over issues pertaining to his constituency, but he was not given time for three days."
     The senior INLD leader also mocked the BJP's "Mission 75 plus" for the October assembly polls.
     "Does the BJP government has even five achievements to show in the past five years of its rule. They failed to fulfil their promises and think that they can get 75 of 90 seats on the basis of hollow slogans," he said.
     Chautala said it was only their party that had the capability to keep both the BJP and the Congress away from power.
     "If anyone stopped the Congress at the national level earlier, it was Chaudhary Devi Lal, not the BJP. It was the INLD that ousted the Congress from power in Haryana. Even now, if anyone can keep both the Congress and the BJP at bay, it is the INLD and our party workers," he said.
     Claiming that the Congress had been decimated at the national level, Chautala said people had already decided not to "bring it to power again".
     He said at the state-level too, the situation for the Congress was "quite bad".
     Abhay also took a swipe at the law and order situation in the state, claiming that the crime rate was on the rise.
     "Criminals are roaming freely, creating an atmosphere of terror," he said, adding that the drug trade was flourishing in Sirsa district.
     "If a survey is done, it will leave everyone shocked. The state government is responsible for this because those who are into the business of drugs are enjoying political patronage," he alleged.
     The INLD had split last year due to a feud in the Chautala family.
     Former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala's grandson and the then Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala had formed the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) after the family feud came out in the open.
     The INLD had received a drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha polls as its candidates on all 10 seats in Haryana lost security deposits.
     Prominent among the sitting INLD MLAs who have joined the BJP are Ranbir Gangwa, Parminder Dhull and Zakir Hussain.
     Four other legislators, including Naina Chautala, have sided with the JJP.
     Senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala is the only prominent face among the six MLAs of the INLD in the 90-member assembly. PTI SUN VSD RDK
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI feed.)