For the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which has been dominated by one family, the 10 years’ imprisonment for its president and former chief minister Om Parkash Chautala and his MLA son Ajay Chautala has come as a political nightmare ahead of the parliamentary and Assembly elections next year.
With two out of its top three leaders on Tuesday getting sentenced to 10 years in jail in the teachers’ recruitment scam, the electoral prospects of the main Opposition party, the INLD appears to have suffered a severe jolt.
Four-time chief minister Chautala was the main face of the party. Now, the 78-year-old Mr Chautala and his son, 51-year-old Ajay Chautala, both sitting MLAs, could stand disqualified from contesting elections next year if their conviction is not stayed by a higher court.
The verdict has shaken the INLD as there is no visible face left to lead the party, except for Chautala’s younger son Abhay Chautala. As the INLD lacks second-rung leaders outside the Chautala family, there is doubt over whether Mr Abhay Chautala has the charisma to keep party leaders together and the traditional Jat vote bank intact for next year’s elections.
Even as the INLD performed reasonably well in the last Assembly elections, the Congress was able to come to power could get a clear majority with the help of the breakaway faction of the Haryana Janhit Congress.
However, with the adverse verdict against the INLD’s top leadership, the party could find it difficult to make any dents in the elections next year. Already, the ruling Congress and the third alternative of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC)-BJP combine are eyeing gains in the form of defections from the INLD ranks.
The sentence comes as a big boost to the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government as the main Opposition will now be on the backfoot with its key leaders behind bars. Moreover, Mr Hooda, a Jat, also hopes to gain if the community shifts loyalty from the INLD. Much will, therefore, depend on the outcome of the appeal filed by the Chautalas in this case as Haryana politicians might not waste time in shifting loyalties.
To further demoralise the INLD’s rank and file, another case of disproportionate assets is in an advanced stage in a Delhi CBI court against the Chautalas. It is likely to be completed in about three months.
In an another case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CBI has recommended to the SC registration of a case against OP Chautala.