Mr Gehlot's tone of utterances left no one in doubt that he was raising the bar regarding poll preparedness of the INLD. As if to drive home the point, he asserted that the INLD will win the election once again. Although Mr Gehlot won as an Independent candidate from the Gurgaon Assembly constituency in the last election, he is an INLD stalwart.

It was clear in the election that the entire INLD cadre was behind him and was instrumental in getting the BJP nominee defeated. It is an open secret that his allegiance for the INLD is as strong as it ever was, even after he became the Deputy Speaker.

He also referred to the mini-secretariat in Gurgaon, set up at a cost of Rs 14 crore. Taking on the opponents of the INLD, he said that they were unnerved by the development works done by the present government. To a question on the dismal showing of the INLD during the last parliamentary election in which both the sons of Mr Om Prakash Chautala lost and the INLD drew blank in all the 10 parliamentary seats, Mr Gehlot said that the issues involved in the Assembly elections would be different. Referring to the Gurgaon Assembly seat, he said that he would win comfortably not on the basis of slogans but on account of development works. He said that he was instrumental, with the "indulgence" of Mr Chautala, in implementing development works for his constituency.