Chautala grandsons' expulsion triggers resignations, INLD faces possible split

The INLD stared at a possible split a day after its president Om Prakash Chautala expelled grandsons Dushyant Chautala and Digvijay Chautala from the party, triggering resignations by activists in their support.

Several party leaders in Haryana districts announced Saturday their resignations from the Indian National Lok Dal over the expulsion of the two leaders, both children of Om Prakash Chautala's elder son Ajay Chautala.

Some of them made the announcement on social media, expressing solidarity with the grandsons who were charged with indiscipline' and then sacked on Friday.

The two are seen as opponents of their uncle and Chautala's younger son, MLA Abhay Singh Chautala.

There is speculation that Ajay Chautala and his two sons may float another party or join the Bharatiya Janata Party which is in power in Haryana, after the jolt months ahead of Assembly polls in the state.

Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala met his supporters in Sirsa. He said the next course will be decided when his father Ajay Chautala steps out of prison.

He and Om Prakash Chautala are undergoing a 10-year jail term since 2013 in a teacher recruitment scandal. His 14-day parole begins on November 5, sources said.

INLD MLA Abhay Singh Chautala hit out at those resigning from the party, saying they had no future in the organisation.

"Those who are deserting the INLD now are people who have allegiance to the Congress. Some Congressmen wanted to weaken the INLD," he said.

But he refused to comment directly on the expulsion of MP Dushyant Chautala and youth leader Digvijay Chautala.

He said those who are with the INLD wanted to see his father Om Prakash Chautala as the next chief minister of Haryana.

The simmering family feud came to a head Friday when an INLD press statement announced the expulsions, quoting the party's jailed national president.

The two had earlier been placed under suspension after a ruckus at a party rally in Gohana on October 7 to mark former deputy prime minister Devi Lal's birth anniversary.

Their supporters had allegedly disrupted speeches of Abhay Chautala and Om Prakash Chautala, who was then out on parole.

Om Prakash Chautala dissolved the party's student and youth wings, headed by the now sacked grandsons as a party disciplinary committee began looking into the charges of indiscipline.

Abhay Chautala, meanwhile, asserted that the INLD will form the next government in Haryana.

He also predicted that in the Lok Sabha elections next year neither the Congress, nor the BJP will get the majority to form a government.

"The situation will be such that Mayawati will become the next PM," Abhay Chautala said.

The INLD has an alliance with her Bahujan Samaj Party in Haryana.

With his elder brother and father in prison, Abhay Chautala has been running the Haryana-based party for the last few years.