Abhay Singh Chautala, the lone MLA from his party Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), resigned from the Haryana Assembly on January 27. This comes two weeks after announcing that he would quit if the centre did not withdraw its controversial agriculture laws by Republic Day. The 57-year-old is a three-time MLA from the Ellenabad seat and is from a party that counts farmers among as a key vote base. He drove to the state assembly complex in Chandigarh in a green tractor to submit his resignation. Like most parties from the agrarian northern belt, he had been under pressure to demonstrate his allegiance to the farmers protesting the laws. Earlier this month, in a letter to the speaker he had criticised the centre for imposing \"black laws\" in an \"undemocratic way\" & indicated that his conscience would not allow him to remain silent any longer.
