Haryana Assembly Elections: Devi Lal's grandson jumps ship from BJP to INLD, to contest from Dabwali

Sirsa (Haryana) [India], September 8 (ANI): In a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Haryana Assembly Elections, party leader Aditya Chautala resigned from the party and joined the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
INLD also announced Aditya Chautala as its candidate from the Dabwali assembly constituency. Party supremo Om Prakash Chautala gave the ticket to Aditya.
Aditya Chautala, is also the grandson of former Haryana Chief Minister Devi Lal.
After joining INLD, Aditya said that he has worked hard for the Bharatiya Janata Party for 10 years but still attempts were made to "derail" him.
"I also worked for the people; despite this, the party cheated me. My name is not on the list of tickets issued, and an attempt was made to derail me. I gave so many years to the party, people expected that I would contest and win the elections," he told reporters.
"I also covered 32 villages of the Dabwali assembly constituency door to door; despite this, I was cheated. I took people's opinion--every person's opinion--that whatever decision I take, they will be with me. I did very good work while being the chairman of the marketing board," Chautala added.
The former BJP leader further said he will file his nomination on Monday from the Dabwali assembly constituency.
"INLD has made me a candidate from Dabwali assembly constituency. I will file my nomination tomorrow and will contest the elections with great enthusiasm. Our victory is certain. We will win all the seats in Sirsa district," Aditya said.
Earlier, former Haryana minister Bachan Singh Arya also resigned from the BJP.
The development came after the party denied tickets to Arya and fielded Ramkumar Gautam from Safidon in its first list of the candidates for the Haryana Polls.
The BJP released its first list of 67 candidates on Wednesday for the 90-member assembly. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will contest from the Ladwa constituency.
Prior to this, Haryana Minister and BJP leader Ranjit Singh Chautala on Thursday resigned from the Cabinet after being denied a ticket by the party for the upcoming assembly polls.
Ranjit Chautala, brother of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, has decided to fight as an independent candidate from the Rania seat.
"I will contest as an independent candidate from the Rania Assembly constituency. It is the decision of the people of my constituency. I have resigned from the minister's post. After I did not get the ticket, I took this decision," he told ANI.
The BJP has fielded Shishpal Kamboj from Rania seat in its first list of candidates. Other prominent leaders on the first list are Gian Chand Gupta, Kanwar Pal Gurjar, Sunita Duggal, Bhavya Bishnoi, and Tejpal Tanwar. Gian Chand Gupta will contest from Panchkula, Kanwar Pal Gurjar from Jagadhri, Sunita Duggal from Ratia, Bhavya Bishnoi from Adampur, and Tejpal Tanwar from Sohna.
Voting for assembly polls in Haryana will be held on October 5 and votes will be counted on October 8.
In 2019, BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 40 seats. Congress won 30 seats. (ANI)