Jail no bar: Chautala plays the victim card, energises INLD's campaign in Haryana

Om Prakash Chautala is back in jail after the court’s intervention, but he seems to have done more than his bit to boost the prospect of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in the Haryana assembly polls.

Till he appeared on the scene, the party was leading a lack-lustre campaign, distinctly lacking in energy and verve. The BJP, fresh from its massive victory in the Lok Sabha polls, looked set for a virtual walkover. The mood in the INLD is upbeat now. Chautala not only campaigned for the party but also drew huge crowds to his campaign rallies.

His being sent back to jail has allowed the party to play the victim card.

“Chautala ji has been jailed again because of the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was so scared of his popularity that he feared BJP’s chances may be ruined if Chautala ji campaigned for the party in the same vein for some days,” Dushyant Chautala, grandson of Om Prakash, told Firstpost. He said the jail had allowed Chautala to be free till October 17 but he was put behind bars earlier because of the BJP. Dushyant, the MP from Hisar, is now contesting from Uchana Kalan, one of the two seats from where Om Prakash won the assembly election in 2009.

He said the BJP’s move to keep Chautala away from the election campaign may boomerang on the party. “People of Haryana are wise and they realize the game plan of both the BJP and the Congress. They see how my father (Ajay Chautala) and grandfather have become victims of political vendetta and how rules are being twisted to keep them out of the political arena. But Chautala ji has already done enough campaign for the party. The INLD may also get sympathy votes in favour of our top leaders," he said.

In just eight days of hectic campaign, Chautala managed to cover 20 of the 21 districts of the state and would have done another round of campaign in the remaining days before elections had he not been put behind bars again. A jail term – he is serving ten years in the JBT scam - may be a black spot for any politician, but not so for the former chief minister. He has emerged as a hero among his supporters.

Out on bail from Tihar jail on health grounds, Chautala risked his health (he was operated upon and is on pacemaker) to use the occasion as a God sent opportunity to campaign actively for his party. He won sympathy from his supporters when he said in a public rally, “I have risked my health for the welfare of the state.” What, of course, he did not say was that he had also risked being put back immediately in the jail although the High Court had given him time till October 17 to remain out on bail.

INLD supremo and the star campaigner for his party, Chautala drew massive crowds wherever he went for the rallies in the state. Commanding fierce loyalty of the Jat votes, Chautala created just the right mix of sympathy for himself and anger for the BJP and the Congress.

The INLD, which was feeling orphaned in the absence of Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala (also serving a 10-years-jail in the JBT scam) found its political graph shooting up in the short span of a week. Had he continued in the same vein, who knows in the remaining days before elections, he may have beaten all other parties in the race.

Jats in the Sirsa, Hisar, Fatehabad, Jind and Bhiwani belt are die-hard followers of Chautalas. The fact that its alliance partner the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) came to his aid in Haryana, despite it having a pact with the BJP in Punjab, further helped the INLD.

Chautala and SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal are old friends and have always helped each other in state elections of their respective states. SAD’s help to the INLD was strongly objected to by the Haryana BJP, but it made little or no impact on the decision of the two regional parties to continue their campaign.

Both the Congress and the BJP targeted the conviction of the Chautalas, the INLD turned adversity into advantage by making it sound like a political vendetta. The Congress hatched a conspiracy in connivance with the CBI. While the Congress alleges the JBT scam proved how undeserving candidates got jobs, while the deserving ones had been left out, the INLD used the opportunity to say how the Chautalas had been victimized to serve the political purpose of the ruling party.

Confident of securing majority in the forthcoming assembly polls in the state, the INLD has trashed pre or post alliance with either the BJP,the HJC-JCP or any other political outfit. “There is no doubt about the outcome of the present poll. The BJP will be decimated and the Congress will be wiped out. The INLD will secure a clear majority,” boast INLD leaders.

“Our first priority is to form the government in Haryana and we are absolutely confident about that. People of Haryana have decided to repose their faith again in us,” said Dushyant.