Chandigarh, December 4
Leaders of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are patting themselves for the performance of their party in the Rajasthan Assembly elections.
Unlike the UP Assembly elections where the INLD drew a blank, the party has been able to win four seats in Rajasthan. Its nominees — Mr Kalu Ram Jatav, Mr Vijay Kumar Bansal, Mr Arun Kumar Singh and Mr Bahadur Singh — have won
the Hindon, Bharatpur City, Deeg and Nohar seats with comfortable margins.
In several constituencies like Rupawas, Khathumar, Mundava and Tara Nagar, the INLD nominees lost by margins less than 1,000. Besides the two main contenders, the BJP and the Congress, 33 other parties were in the fray in Rajasthan. It is some consolation for leaders of the INLD that their party ranks third in the terms of seats won. The Rashtriya Lok Dal of Mr Ajit Singh, the bete noire of the INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had fielded 41 candidates but all of them lost their security deposits. The Samajwadi Party and the National Congress Party (NCP) candidates have also not able to save their security deposits. The INLD had fielded 49 candidates.
However, Mr Chautala's hopes of holding the balance in case the electorate had returned a hung assembly have been dashed because of a clear majority obtained by the BJP. He had been declaring in his election speeches that the INLD would choose the next Chief Minister of Rajasthan. An earlier incarnation of the INLD had once won three assembly seats in Rajasthan. After the formation of the government, only Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, elder son of the INLD supremo, had remained with the party. The INLD may have to work hard to keep its flock together this time also.
To be fair to Mr Chautala, he had declared even before the Rajasthan elections had been notified that in the case of a hung assembly his party would never support the Congress.
The presence of the INLD in the Rajasthan election arena has helped the BJP by default. Two members of the Chautala family, Mr Devi Lal and Mr Ajay Singh, had been successfully contesting the elections from the desert state though the third member, Mr Abhey Singh, younger son of Mr Chautala, had to taste defeat in the last assembly elections.
