`INLD to support third front in next LS elections`

Gurgaon: INLD chief and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala Friday said his party will back the formation of a third front in the next Lok Sabha polls.

"INLD will support the formation of third front in next general elections whenever they are held," he told reporters at Medanta hospital here. Chautala attacked the Congress for "ruining" the country and said it would be a "disaster" for people if the party returned to power for third consecutive time. On being asked about the possibilities of alliance with BJP in the state, Chautala said he has close friends in BJP including Narender Singh Modi and "in politics nothing can be ruled out." Presently, BJP has an alliance with Haryana Janhit Congress led by Kuldeep Bishnoi in Haryana. He alleged that Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his associates had taken commission for setting up thermal power projects, worth Rs 30,000, across the state. Taking a swipe at the Chief Minister, Chautala said Hooda was an "expert" in spreading rumours using media for political and personal gains. He said that recently, state government run public relation department issued a press note claiming that Hooda has visited Chautala at Medanta and enquired about his health. "But it was not true, Hooda had not come to meet me at the hospital," he claimed. 78-year-old Chautala was granted interim bail for six weeks by the Delhi High Court for undergoing a pacemaker implant surgery. On January 22, the trial court had convicted and sentenced Chautala and nine others, including his son Ajay Chautala, to 10 years` jail term for illegally recruiting 3,206 junior teachers. PTI