Ajay Chautala is serving a 10-year jail term along with his father. (File)
Pitted against his younger brother Abhay Chautala amid a power struggle within the INLD, its secretary general Ajay Chautala on Tuesday hit out at his critics for dubbing a party meet, convened by him, as "unconstitutional".
Ajay Chautala on Monday wrote a letter inviting the INLD's sitting and former MPs and MLAs, besides other office bearers for a state executive meet in Jind on November 17.
Reacting to Ajay Chautala's plans to convene the meet, Indian National Lok Dal spokesperson Praveen Attrey questioned his authority. "As per the party constitution, only national president (Om Prakash Chautala) or state president (Ashok Arora) or someone authorised by them has the right to call a meeting of the state executive," he said.
Ajay Chautala, however, has not been authorised to calling a party meeting and therefore, it is "unconstitutional", he added.
INLD MP Charanjit Singh Rori too decided to stay away from the November 17 meeting, describing it as "unauthorised".
The objections to Ajay Chautala's move to convene the meeting surfaced amid a festering family feud, which saw two of his sons - Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala and younger one Digvijay Chautala being "expelled" from the INLD on November 2 by an order they have refused to accept.
Ajay Chautala, who is serving a 10-year jail term along with his father and former Chief Minister OP Chautala in a teachers' recruitment scam in the state, is currently out on a two-week parole. Ajay has been critical of the action against his sons.
Talking to reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting with his supporters in Sonipat, Ajay Chautala said, "Party's supremo is its president, but even he too does not issue letters. On his directions, office secretary issues such letters."
"Secretary General (of the party) has the responsibility to run its affairs, those who are dubbing the (Jind) meeting as unconstitutional should read the (party) constitution first," he asserted.
His son Digvijay Chautala, who was in Sirsa Tuesday, too hit out at INLD spokesperson Attrey and asked, "Will a person who has been in party for one or two years or someone (Ajay Chautala) who has given 40 years of his life to it, decide who has the right to summon a meeting?"
There are some people in the party including a few retired bureaucrats "who can go to any extent to escalate things for their vested interest", Digvijay Chautala told reporters in Sirsa.
Asked about party MP Rori decision to stay away from the November 17 meeting, he said, "When Rori says he will not attend the meeting, it becomes clear at whose behest he is saying so."
Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was in Karnal, took a swipe at the ongoing feud in the Chautala family, saying there are "too many claimants for the chief minister's post" in both the Congress and the INLD.
Asked about the feud in Chautala family, Mr Khattar said, "There is infighting in both parties in the state as there are too many claimants for the chief minister's post."
He said he does not want to comment on the internal affairs of the two parties, but added, "Be it the Congress or the INLD, the situation is bad in both the parties."