At Sadbhawna rally, SP, INLD call for third front

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 25

The Indian National Lok Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal (United) on Sunday called on political parties to unite against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a third political front.

Addressing a rally on Sadbhawana Samman Diwas, Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly Abhay Chautala blamed the Congress and the BJP of having stoked violence during the Jats protest for reservation in February and asked political parties to set aside their differences to fight them.

By government's own estimates, 30 people had died during the protests.

He also read out a message from former chief minister OP Chautala, INLD’s jailed supremo.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Janata Dal (United) Parliamentarian KC Tyagi, Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav and former Parliamentarian Santosh Bharti also addressed the rally.

While Tyagi criticised the central government for its crop insurance policy, Yadav — controversial Uttar Pradesh president of the Samajwadi Party — said it was time to ”root out” communal forces from Haryana and elsewhere in the country and praised UP chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s government for its work for farmers’ welfare.

He also criticised Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s government in Haryana for “rampant corruption and poor state of farmers”.  

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claimed the people of India continued to await the “achhe din” they were promised, a dig at former ally the BJP, and called the saffron party anti-farmers.

“People should give a send a clear message to communal forces,” he said and asked the INLD to support liquor ban in the state, urging the state to follow Bihar's example.