‘Dumped’ by BJP, Dushyant Chautala’s JJP to contest Haryana Assembly polls on its own

Addressing a party rally in Hisar, Dushyant Chautala said, “We will have the key to Vidhan Sabha’s lock and our key will go to the Lok Sabha, too.” Key is the JJP’s election symbol.

Leaving the decision about the number of the Lok Sabha seats to be contested to JJP president Ajay Singh Chautala, Dushyant said his father would also discuss it with the party leaders including district presidents.

Dushyant suggested three options: contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats from Haryana, field candidates only where the party is strong, or skip the Lok Sabha polls to keep focus on the Assembly polls.

“This time, we will win over 50 Assembly seats,” said Dushyant while reminding that the JJP won 10 seats in the 2019 Assembly polls.

As already planned, the Hisar rally was held on the occasion of Ajay Singh Chautala’s birthday. The Hisar parliamentary constituency has nine Assembly segments.

Explaining the reasons for the discord between the BJP and the JJP, Dushyant said, “We had made preparations to contest two Lok Sabha seats—Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh. I met (BJP president) Nadda-ji. I discussed with Ajay Singh-ji that they (BJP) have asked us to contest from Rohtak. Ajay Singh-ji said if they announce an old-age pension of Rs 5,100 monthly, we won’t contest any seat.”

An old-age pension of Rs 5,100 was the JJP’s main poll promise before the 2019 polls.

Notably, the senior JJP leaders including from the Chautala family did not criticise the BJP or its leaders. In an indirect attack on former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, Dushyant said that “in the coming days, there will be no one to display his photos”.

His younger brother and JJP leader Digvijay Singh Chautala said, “Nayab Saini has become the chief minister without being an MLA. His position has a validity of six months. Dushyant Chautala will be the CM for five years.”

In the rally, the JJP leaders and the workers projected Dushyant as the party’s chief ministerial face for the Assembly polls. JJP state president Nishan Singh said that Dushyant should be made the chief minister, while another JJP leader, Rajender Litani, addressed him as “the next CM”. JJP supporters raised slogans of “Aaya aaya, CM aaya and bhavi CM Dushyant Chautala”.

According to JJP leaders, out of the party’s 10 legislators, Dushyant now has the “active” support of only five. They are Dushyant himself, his mother Naina Chautala, Anoop Dhanak, Ram Karan Kala and Amarjeet Dhanda, all of whom except Naina were present at the rally.

Trying to claim that he is not upset with the break of the alliance, Dushyant said, “We have not weakened. After the formation of the JJP, I have been working with dedication for the party. I am just 35. I will work for you for the next 40 years.”