The Indian National Lok Dal on Sunday rejoined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and announced that it will contest the coming Lok Sabha elections in Haryana in alliance with the BJP.
INLD, the principal opposition party in Haryana, had snapped ties with NDA in February 2004.
Announcing the tie-up, BJP president Rajnath Singh, senior BJP leader L K Advani and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala said the main objective of the alliance was to push the Congress-led UPA out of power.
The two parties did not mention about the number of seats they will contest in Haryana.
"The alliance is not based on preconditions ... in 1998 too I had extended support to Atal Bihari Vajpayee without any conditions attached," said Chautala.
To a poser on the future of the alliance, Rajnath Singh said, "INLD is an uncompromising, anti-Congress force ... the alliance will ensure that Congress is voted out of power."
Chautala claimed that the Congress had vitiated the political atmosphere of the country. "We will together cleanse it", he added.
Singh claimed that the INLD rejoining the NDA was only the beginning. "I had said months ago that the number (of allies) will increase," he said.
No representative of any of the NDA constituents were present at the press conference at the BJP headquarters.
