‘Mr Modi, I Will Rule From a Village, not Jail’, Says Chautala

t a rally in Rohtak, Mr Chautala responded to PM Modi’s barb that if he won, he would have to rule from jail. “Modi says I will take oath and rule from jail. I am from a village and will rule from there,” said the former Chief Minister, who is serving a 10-year jail term for corruption.

Mr Chautala also criticized the state’s Congress government led by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. “Not a single brick has been laid in the name of development. What development? They fly in planes. They are steeped in club culture. How can they serve the country?” he sneered.

After addressing multiple rallies in the past few weeks, Mr Chautala faces the prospect of being sent back to prison just before polling.

The CBI today asked the Delhi High Court to cancel his bail, strongly denying criticism that it did nothing to stop Mr Chautala all this time.

The 79-year-old chief of the Indian National Lok Dal has to surrender on October 17, two days after Haryana votes for a new government. The CBI says he must be sent back to jail even before that.

With campaigning in its final stages, the CBI listed Mr Chautala’s bail plea violations and asked the court for an “urgent hearing”.

The CBI’s application says Mr Chautala sought bail for “indoor treatment” and should have been in hospital. Instead, he popped up at a rally in Jind on September 25.

Mr Chautala took an air ambulance from the Medanta super-specialty hospital in Gurgaon to the rally site and reportedly also took a team of doctors.

The CBI said it moved court again after another roadshow by Mr Chautala on Saturday but the court was on vacation.