News Analysis India

Tag: Indian National Lok Dal

  • Power Games: Nitish wants to reunite old Janata Dal splinters

    Express News Service

    Mission 2024Nitish wants to reunite old Janata Dal splinters

    Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been in touch with the leaders of the erstwhile Janata Dal’s splinters to try and unite them before the next Lok Sabha elections. The four breakaway parties of the old Janata Dal had recently come together on one platform at a public meeting organised by Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Sources close to Kumar said that he wants a merger of his Janata Dal (United), Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) and the INLD. This, he feels, will provide an all-India alternative to the BJP in the 2024 general elections. Nitish Kumar wants this united Janata Dal to ally with the Congress to challenge the might of the BJP which appears assured of a victory in the absence of a credible national alternative. Nitish had recently met Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with Lalu Yadav where he had raised the issue of alliance. Sonia asked him to discuss the issue with the new party president after the conclusion of the party’s organisational elections.

    Rise of RupeeIndia to sign rupee trade deal with UAE, Nigeria

    India is close to signing a deal with the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria to facilitate trade in rupee with the two countries. Sources said that the deals with the two countries will be on the lines of the Indo-Russian rupee-rouble deal. The trade with the two countries will reportedly be conducted using the US dollar as the benchmark for the exchange rate. India has of late been facing trouble in making payments for the Russian oil. Payment for Russian oil in Emirati Dirham has been stopped after US reportedly tightened screws on UAE’s Mashrek Bank which was handling these payments for the Indian companies. With the US sanctions making it difficult for India to make payments for the Russian oil, India now plans to buy oil from UAE and Nigeria by making payment in rupee once the deal comes through. Indian officials have been working with their counterparts in UAE and Nigeria and the deal is likely to be announced in October 2022.

    Legal NotesWhy Rohatgi refused to head govt’s legal team

    More than the appointment of R Venkataramani as the new Attorney General, the legal fraternity has been talking about Mukul  Rohatgi’s refusal to take up the post of government’s top law officer. Sources said the top-notch senior advocate was all set to take up the job. A message was reportedly conveyed to him about the appointment, and he had given his consent. Rohatgi had handled the responsibility in 2014, when the Narendra Modi government first came to power, and an encore was considered a smooth affair. Arrangements were being finalised for the crowning and news of the impending appointment was splashed all over the media. But Rohatgi suddenly declined the offer and R Venkataramani was appointed as the Attorney General. The reason as to why he refused the offer has been a subject of hot debates among the black gowns. Sources said that Rohatgi was told by his friends that 2022 is not 2014, and Kiren Rijiju is not Arun Jaitley! Rohatgi was told that a law officer, who holds an important position in the central government’s legal team, wields all the power in the current regime as he enjoys the same level of confidence among the top Union ministers as Rohatgi enjoyed during Jaitley’s tenure. As a result, his tenure may not be as smooth as the previous one, he was told. Rohatgi reportedly found merit in the input and decided to stay away from the A-G’s post.

    Mission 2024
    Nitish wants to reunite old Janata Dal splinters

    Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been in touch with the leaders of the erstwhile Janata Dal’s splinters to try and unite them before the next Lok Sabha elections. The four breakaway parties of the old Janata Dal had recently come together on one platform at a public meeting organised by Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Sources close to Kumar said that he wants a merger of his Janata Dal (United), Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) and the INLD. This, he feels, will provide an all-India alternative to the BJP in the 2024 general elections. Nitish Kumar wants this united Janata Dal to ally with the Congress to challenge the might of the BJP which appears assured of a victory in the absence of a credible national alternative. Nitish had recently met Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with Lalu Yadav where he had raised the issue of alliance. Sonia asked him to discuss the issue with the new party president after the conclusion of the party’s organisational elections.

    Rise of Rupee
    India to sign rupee trade deal with UAE, Nigeria

    India is close to signing a deal with the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria to facilitate trade in rupee with the two countries. Sources said that the deals with the two countries will be on the lines of the Indo-Russian rupee-rouble deal. The trade with the two countries will reportedly be conducted using the US dollar as the benchmark for the exchange rate. India has of late been facing trouble in making payments for the Russian oil. Payment for Russian oil in Emirati Dirham has been stopped after US reportedly tightened screws on UAE’s Mashrek Bank which was handling these payments for the Indian companies. With the US sanctions making it difficult for India to make payments for the Russian oil, India now plans to buy oil from UAE and Nigeria by making payment in rupee once the deal comes through. Indian officials have been working with their counterparts in UAE and Nigeria and the deal is likely to be announced in October 2022.

    Legal Notes
    Why Rohatgi refused to head govt’s legal team

    More than the appointment of R Venkataramani as the new Attorney General, the legal fraternity has been talking about Mukul  Rohatgi’s refusal to take up the post of government’s top law officer. Sources said the top-notch senior advocate was all set to take up the job. A message was reportedly conveyed to him about the appointment, and he had given his consent. Rohatgi had handled the responsibility in 2014, when the Narendra Modi government first came to power, and an encore was considered a smooth affair. Arrangements were being finalised for the crowning and news of the impending appointment was splashed all over the media. But Rohatgi suddenly declined the offer and R Venkataramani was appointed as the Attorney General. The reason as to why he refused the offer has been a subject of hot debates among the black gowns. Sources said that Rohatgi was told by his friends that 2022 is not 2014, and Kiren Rijiju is not Arun Jaitley! Rohatgi was told that a law officer, who holds an important position in the central government’s legal team, wields all the power in the current regime as he enjoys the same level of confidence among the top Union ministers as Rohatgi enjoyed during Jaitley’s tenure. As a result, his tenure may not be as smooth as the previous one, he was told. Rohatgi reportedly found merit in the input and decided to stay away from the A-G’s post.

  • Haryana bypoll: Farmers will make BJP pay heavy price, says Abhay Chautala

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Farmers will make the BJP pay a heavy price for bringing the contentious farm laws in the bypolls to the Ellenabad Assembly segment, said senior Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Singh Chautala on Tuesday.

    Chautala, who was his party’s lone representative in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, had in January resigned as an MLA over the three central farm laws in solidarity with protesting farmers.

    He represented Ellenabad, a rural constituency.

    “Farmers will make them pay a heavy price for bringing the black farm laws. The BJP-JJP combine will lose their security deposit,” said Chautala.

    “People will not even allow their leaders (BJP-JJP) to enter the constituency,” he said.

    Chautala claimed that people of Ellenabad will also reject the Congress, “which only sheds crocodile tears in the name of farmers”.

    On who will be INLD’s candidate for the bypolls, Chautala said, “This will be decided by the people of Ellenabad. We will hold a meeting on October 3 and ask them. Whosoever they decide will be the party’s candidate.”

    The BJP had forged a post-poll alliance with the JJP in 2019 after it fell short of the majority mark in the Assembly polls.

    It remains to be seen which of the two allies will put up a candidate for the bypoll.

    Pawan Beniwal, who earlier this month switched over to the Congress, was the BJP’s candidate from the Ellenabad constituency in the last Assembly polls.

    Beniwal had contested unsuccessfully against Abhay Chautala then.

    Bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 30 assembly constituencies spread across 14 states will be held on October 30, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.

    The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

  • OP Chautala visits Ghazipur border protest site, demands withdrawal of Central farm laws

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Former Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo OP Chautala on Tuesday said that “Central farm laws should be withdrawn”.

    The comments of the former Haryana CM came during his visit to Delhi’s Ghazipur border where farmers have been protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws.

    Speaking to ANI, Chautala said, “These laws should be withdrawn. India is an agriculture-based country. Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. This agitation is not only of farmers and labourers but for the entire nation.”

    “We will fight for farmer’s rights,” he added.

    Since November 26 last year, farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital, against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    Chautala was recently released from prison after serving a 10-year jail term in the teachers’ recruitment scam which took place in the state during his tenure as the state’s chief minister.

    The jail term was awarded by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the national capital.

  • Haryana ex-CM O P Chautala to be freed from Tihar after Delhi government’s remission order

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Former Haryana chief minister O P Chautala, who is serving a 10-year prison term in a teacher recruitment scam case and is out on parole, will be freed from Tihar jail as the Delhi government has granted a six-month remission of sentence, officials said on Wednesday.

    The 86-year-old Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president’s younger son and party leader Abhay Singh Chautala and grandson Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala expressed their happiness over the development.

    The Delhi government passed an order on Monday granting a six-month special remission to those who have served nine-and-half years of their 10-year prison sentence to decongest jails in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Since the 86-year-old former chief minister has already served nine years and nine months of his sentence, he is eligible to get out of prison, officials said.

    “Om Prakash Chautala was sentenced in 2013. He was on emergency parole since March 26, 2020, due to the Covid pandemic and was scheduled to surrender on February 21, 2021. However, his parole had been extended by the high court,” A senior Tihar jail official said.

    As of February 21, he had two months and 27 days of jail time left which will now be counted as remitted.

    He will be formally released whenever he surrenders before the jail authority, the official said.

    “The Delhi government has passed an order regarding special remission of six months to convicts who are sentenced for 10 years and have already completed nine years and six months of custody, including regular remission.”

    “Convicts who are sentenced for seven years or more but less than 10 years, and are left with only five months to complete the sentence will get remission of five months.

    Convicts who are sentenced for five years or more but less than seven years, and are left with only four months to complete the sentence, will get remission of four months,” the remission order stated.

    Similarly, those sentenced to three years or more in prison but less than five years and are left with only three months and those with one year or more sentence but less than three years and are left with only two months, will get remissions of three months and two months respectively.

    Reacting to the development, O P Chautala’s younger son Abhay Chautala, said the Chautala family will always be grateful to the people for their “love and prayers in times of crisis.”

    “Under his (O P Chautala’s) leadership, the INLD party will continue on the path shown by Chaudhary Devi Lal and fight for the peasants and weaker sections of the society,” Abhay Chautala tweeted.

    When reporters in Panchkula sought Dushyant Chautala’s reaction about his grandfather’s imminent release from jail, the deputy chief minister said he learnt about the development through the media.

    “It is a matter of happiness,” he said.

    Notably, Dushyant Chautala floated the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) in 2018 when the INLD split following a feud within the Chautala family.

    Dushyant’s brother and senior JJP leader Digvijay Singh Chautala also expressed happiness over the development.

    In a statement, he said Om Prakash Chautala “is our role model” and his struggle in life “is an example for all of us”.

    O P Chautala, his elder son Ajay Chautala, and 53 others, including IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar, were convicted and sentenced in the case of illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers in 2000.

    They all were sentenced to varying jail terms in the case by a special CBI court in January 2013.

    Kumar, the then Director of Primary Education in Haryana, had initially exposed the scam after he filed a plea in the Supreme Court.

    Later, he was also found to be involved in the scam during a CBI probe.

    Apart from the Chautalas and Kumar, Chautala’s former Officer on Special Duty Vidya Dhar and political advisor to the then Haryana CM Sher Singh Badshami were also given 10-year jail terms.

    The others who were given 10-year jail terms are Madan Lal Kalra, Durga Dutt Pradhan, Bani Singh, Ram Singh and Daya Saini.

    Apart from them, one convict was handed a five-year jail sentence and the rest 44 were given four years of imprisonment.