Jhajjar: Abhay Chautala, the president of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), attacked both the BJP and the Congress party during his visit to Saundhi village here on Sunday.While Chautala accused the BJP of promoting caste-based politics, he challenged Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress functionary, to a public debate.Speaking to the mediapersons after interacting with the villagers, Chautala alleged that the BJP was systematically targeting one community in Haryana. Pointing to the saffron party’s new organisational team, he questioned the absence of senior Jat leaders, including Om Prakash Dhankar, Captain Abhimanyu and Subhash Barala.Chautala also reacted sharply to the reported possibility of civil and criminal cases being filed against him by Hooda. “If Hooda has the courage, he should come on a public platform and debate with me,” he said.I will expose everything, point by point, the INLD chief added.Rejecting Rohtak and Jhajjar as Hooda’s bastions, Chautala said, “Garhs (forts) belonged to kings and maharajas.”In democracy, no region can be treated as anyone’s bastion, he added.Chautala also hit out at the Congress over Deepender Singh Hooda’s remarks, describing former MP Sajjan Kumar as a “role model”. He said the statement had once again brought the Congress’s record concerning the Sikh community into focus.Projecting the INLD as a resurgent political force, Chautala claimed, “The coming time belongs to the INLD.”He predicted a major political shift in Haryana, and asserted that the INLD would form govt on its own after the 2029 assembly elections.Chautala also invited the supporters to the Choudhary Devi Lal Jayanti rally in Nuh on Sept 27, calling it a potential turning point in Haryana’s politics.
