Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief, Om Prakash Chautala (File) Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief, Om Prakash Chautala, on Saturday hit the campaign trail in Lambi villages on behalf of long-term friend Parkash Singh Badal and targeted the BJP, stating that the saffron party never had a vote bank of its own in Punjab.
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is a political party in the state of Haryana. INLD was founded in October 1996.
“It was due to Badal sahib that the votes were polled to SAD-BJP candidates when the parties were in an alliance in Punjab.”
On Saturday, 87-year-old Chautala, while addressing a rally in a green turban at Ghumaira village, said, “In our old times when we used to do politics. We used to think about the common man’s problems and made policies to resolve them.
But as of now in our country, and even in the present Punjab government, divide and rule is the only policy. Hatred is being spread in name of caste and religion. But I am glad that people came together and became united against the three contentious farm laws and are ready to throw out such politicians.”
Chautala, however, dodged queries related to the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) and was non-committal about when Haryana would get its share of water from Punjab. He said, “We have communal harmony and we have no confrontation. A few people are trying to create a rift in the name of SYL.”
Chautala, during Saturday’s rally, also tried to silence critics of Badal senior’s age, who at 94 is the oldest politician in the country to be contesting a poll. Chautala said, “The elections in Punjab will have a great impact on Haryana as well. We hope that the INLD is voted to power in the next Haryana elections. In Punjab, I don’t think there is any leader who can come close to Parkash Singh Badal. Badal sahib was not keen on continuing in active politics. But we want to learn from his experiences and hence asked him to contest.”
Targeting the BJP he said, “In our country, over 30% population are Muslims. But the BJP never gives tickets to Muslim candidates for Lok Sabha polls. This shows their double standards. In the agitation against the farm laws, the one good thing that happened was that people of all caste and creeds joined hands to protest and the government had no choice but to repeal the laws. In the same way, people will now need to join hands to overthrow the present government in Punjab and UP.”
Highlighting his long association with Parkash Singh Badal, Chautala said, “Badal sahib has always worked for all communities and has maintained communal harmony in the state. Hence, the people should vote for the bring SAD-BSP alliance in the upcoming polls. “
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