Tough times ahead for INLD

CHANDIGARH: With the Delhi high court upholding jail term of Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son Ajay Singh in the junior basic teacher (JBT) recruitment scam, Indian National Lok Dal may find it difficult to regain lost glory.
This comes as another blow for INLD as the party lost assembly polls even as it was hoping to come back to the centrestage after being out of power for over a decade.Many had expected a judicial reprieve for the former chief minister and party supremo to revive INLD's sagging fortunes in the state.
In the assembly election held in October 2014, BJP had made history by winning 47 of the 90 seats and forming a majority government for the first time in Haryana after independence. The INLD had finished a second with 19 seats while the Congress got 15 seats.
"INLD is not an ideology-based party. Workers can get demoralized quickly if they don't see their party coming to power in the near future," said T R Kundu, retired professor from Kurukshetra University.
Echoing similar views, retired professor from Delhi University, D R Chaudhry said that INLD may get sympathy for a brief period. "In such circumstances, the party may also face the possibility of its workers shifting loyalties to either BJP or Congress," he said.
However, INLD general secretary R S Chaudhary has not lost hope just yet. "We have faced challenges in the past as well and have strong organization in the state and can weather this storm," he insisted.
Now, it would be a challenge for Chautala's younger son Abhay, who is leader of Opposition in the state assembly, to boost morale of party workers. The party is known for its strong base among farmers.
A Delhi court on January 16, 2013 had convicted 55 persons, including O P Chautala and his elder son Ajay, in connection with illegal recruitment of over 3,000 junior basic trained teachers during the Chautala government in 1999-2000.
According to INLD leaders, 50 of the accused will be out of jail now as the court has reduced their sentence to two years from the previous four to five years. However, the Chautalas, former INLD MLA Sher Singh Badshami and IAS officers Vidya Dhar and Sanjiv Kumar will remain in jail as the Delhi high court upheld their 10-year jail term.