In March, Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kanwar Pal had issued notices to these four MLAs seeking their reply on a complaint lodged by then INLD MLA Balwan Singh Daulatpuria seeking disqualification of all four MLAs under anti-defection law.In a fresh twist to the ongoing tussle within the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), four MLAs, who had allegedly left the party and joined Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in December last year, have now written to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kanwar Pal that they have neither quit the INLD nor joined any other political party.
The four MLAs are Dushyant’s mother Naina Chautala (representing Dabwali), Anoop Dhanak (Uklana), Pirthi Singh (Narwana) and Rajdeep Phogat (Dadri).
In March, Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kanwar Pal had issued notices to these four MLAs seeking their reply on a complaint lodged by then INLD MLA Balwan Singh Daulatpuria seeking disqualification of all four MLAs under anti-defection law. Daulatpuria left INLD and joined the BJP last month. He had also resigned from his membership of Vidhan Sabha, which was accepted by the Speaker.
The JJP was born out of a feud in the Chautala family. After a vertical split in the party, all four MLAs had openly sided with JJP and campaigned for the newly formed party in Jind assembly bypoll in January this year and throughout Lok Sabha polls.
After the latest development, Speaker Kanwar Pal has now called Daulatpuria, who is the complainant and all four MLAs who are respondents to confront them in front of each other.
Confirming the development, Kanwar Pal said, “I had sought replies of all these four MLAs. I read their replies today and all of them have written that they neither left INLD, nor joined any other party. They have requested that no action should be taken against them under anti-defection law. I have now summoned both the sides – Daulatpuria and four MLAs to explain their sides on August 6. If Daulatpuria has lodged a formal complaint, he should prove that these four MLAs had left INLD and are liable for action”.
Rajdeep Phogat, MLA from Dadri, said, “Yes, it is correct that I have written in my reply that I have not quit INLD, nor did I join the JJP.”
Asked why he and the other three MLAs campaigned for the JJP and not for the INLD, Phogat said, “It is one’s personal wish. It is right that we campaigned for JJP, but we never quit INLD. Abhay Chautala remains our leader.”
On his future plans in wake of the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls in Haryana in October this year, Phogat added, “It will be decided at a later stage, once our term ends.”
Dhanak and Pirthi Singh too reiterated that they have not left INLD
“What ever I have written in my reply is true. I do not want to say anything more,” said Dhanak. Pirthi Singh, MLA from Narwana, said, “Yes, I have written to the Speaker saying that I have not quit INLD. Actually, I was also issued a notice apparently due to some misunderstanding. I had gone to Hisar and attended a public meeting of Dushyant Chautala. That gave an impression that I had also quit INLD and sided with the JJP. But, I have not resigned from INLD. I have now clarified my stand.”
