CHANDIGARH: Governor of Haryana Dhanik Lal Mandal has accepted the resignation of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on Tuesday evening.

Chautala’s resignation was forwarded to the governor by President of ruling Janata Dal party S.R. Bommai.

Meanwhile, Anand Singh Dangi, the rebel Janata Dal candidate in the countermanded Meham bye elections, thanked VP Singh and his cabinet colleagues “for at last taking the decision” of asking Chautala to resign from chief minister ship.

“Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress I also deserve a word of appreciation for raising this issue in parliament and the public,” Dangi said in a statement.

Dangi appealed to the people of Dariba Kalan, from where Chautala is contesting not to allow their representation to a person “who. Attempted to murder democracy and did not care for innocent lives.”

Hectic political activity began since Tuesday morning at the Haryana Bhavan, where the legislature party will meet and at the residence of Chautala’s father and Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal to choose the new chief minister.

Both Devi Lal’s sons, Chautala and Ranjit Singh, who are at loggerheads with each other, met their father.

Meanwhile Devi Lal said the developments in Haryana were a conspiracy against him and not his son. He accused five big newspaper barons and not the Congress I of hatching the conspiracy against him.

Devi Lal said though he had accepted the decision of his party’s political affairs committee asking Chautala to resign, he was not party to it. He did not attend either the meeting of the union cabinet or the political affairs committee held Monday night to decide the fate of his son.

Chautala, however, said the patty had done what it deemed fit.

Article extracted from this publication >> June 1, 1990