After the Election Commission declared the date of polling of Ellenabad by-election, the Indian National Lok Dal party (INLD) has announced the name of the contestant and decided to field the party stalwart Abhay Singh Chautala who was elected from the seat earlier and had resigned from the post in favour of the farmers sitting on agitation against the three contentious agriculture laws. Prior to this, experts were speculating that the party may field the INLD supremo OP Chautala, who was released from the jail after the completion of his ten years’ sentence. Experts are of the opinion that the Representation of People’s Act emerges as an obstacle that bars any leader convicted of corruption from contesting elections for six years after the release.
It is pertinent to mention that the INLD is still fighting for its existence in the state as it could win just one seat in last assembly elections, the party’s worst performance so far.
In wake of the ongoing political scenario, everyone is familiar with that all political parties, particularly the JJP would be in the line of fire of Abhay. But JJP, which was formed by His nephew Dushyant Singh Chautala following the separation from INLD to form the alliance with the BJP, would be the main target.
In this series, the BJP which is ruling the state in alliance with the JJP, continues to mull on the finalisation of the name of the contestant. However, leaders of both parties continue to state that the BJP-JJL will field a joint candidate and fight the election in collaboration. So finalisation of the contestant stayed undecided so far.
The main opposition party Congress also has not declared the name of the contestant so far. It can not be denied that the party stalwarts are going through an eternal tussle for a long time which led to increasing the troubles of the party in the state.
Pawan Beniwal who contested the last election on the ticket of the BJP, has joined the Congress. It is learnt that he belongs to the Kumari Selena faction. But contrary to this, Bharat Singh Beniwal who was made to contest the last election by the Congress, is believed to be in favour of Hooda faction. Everyone is familiar with the fact that Hooda and Seleja are not on good terms and are most likely to be eyeball to eyeball over the selection of the candidate. Besides, other party leaders including Kiran Chaudhary, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Captain Ajay Yadav may have different opinions pertaining to the finalisation of the contestant. Thus, selection of the contestant in the Congress for the by-election is not less than an uphill task.