Kingmaker then, in tatters now: Can Dushyant Chautala’s JJP again spring a surprise in Haryana?

Since making waves in its Haryana Assembly election debut in 2019, when it helped the BJP form the government, the regional party has suffered a series of setbacks and seems like a shadow of its former self

With the Election Commission (EC) announcing that the Haryana Assembly polls will be held on October 1, the spotlight is again on 36-year old Dushyant Chautala who had emerged as a kingmaker after the 2019 elections as his Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) helped the BJP form a coalition government. But, after being dumped by the BJP before the Lok Sabha polls this year, and amid an ever-sliding electoral graph, Dushyant faces a major challenge: keeping his party flock together.

The JJP will have to carve out a space in what is set up to be a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the main Opposition Congress. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and the JJP are the other parties in the fray.

In 2019, the JJP secured 14.9% of the vote share and won 10 of the 87 seats it contested. But in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it managed just 0.87% of the votes despite contesting all 10 parliamentary constituencies in Haryana. All its candidates lost their security deposits.

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In December 2023, Dushyant’s attempt to browbeat former ally BJP by fielding 19 candidates in the Rajasthan Assembly polls had also left the party red-faced after all its candidates lost their security deposits. The JJP’s 0.14% vote share was surpassed by even the None of the Above (NOTA) option, which 0.96% of the voters opted for.

Beset by dissent and defections, the JJP is in tatters. At least five of its 10 MLAs have rebelled and pledged support to the BJP. The party approached Speaker Gian Chand Gupta seeking disqualification of two MLAs: Barwala MLA Jogi Ram Sihag and Narwana MLA Ram Niwas. However, before any decision could be taken, the EC announced the Assembly polls. Three other JJP MLAs, including Ram Kumar Gautam from Narnaund, Devender Singh Babli from Tohana, and Ishwar Singh from Guhla, have been vocal critics of Dushyant inside and outside the Assembly. None of them are likely to be considered for poll tickets this time.

In April, in another blow to Dushyant, JJP state president Nishan Singh quit the party and joined the Congress. On Friday, the JJP’s Uklana MLA Anoop Dhanak, a loyalist of Dushyant’s father Ajay Chautala, also quit the party citing personal reasons. Dhanak who was made a minister in 2019 after the JJP joined the coalition government is likely to join the BJP.

On Saturday, two more JJP MLAs resigned from the party. Both Ishwar Singh and Devender Singh Babli quit saying they were “unable to perform their duties”. Babli, who was once a close confidant of Dushyant and had served as the Panchayat minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar government, had been vocal in his criticism of Dushyant during the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation.

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Soon after the debacle in Lok Sabha polls, all units of the JJP were dissolved. Dushyant, his father Ajay Chautala, who is the national JJP president, and other party leaders then began to restructure the party. On Friday, soon after the EC announced the poll schedule for Haryana, the JJP released a list of 50 office-bearers as part of its restructuring drive.

The JJP, an offshoot of the former Chief Minister O P Chautala-led INLD, was founded on December 9, 2018, after infighting within the Chautala family.

After joining and remaining in the BJP-led coalition government as an ally, Dushyant faced immense criticism from within his party and the state’s electorate during the year-long farmers’ agitation from 2021-’21. He weathered this criticism and remained with the BJP until the saffron party cut ties with him this year.

Ever since, Dushyant has been criticising the BJP and its policies. After the EC’s announcement on Friday, Dushyant said, “The JJP is fully prepared to contest the upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls. Party workers have been asked to step out in the field for the next 45 days and work hard 24×7. The party’s preparations to contest all 90 seats are in full swing. For the last five months, the people of Haryana are perturbed with the BJP government’s policies. CM Nayab Singh Saini has only misled the people by taking U-turns from his predecessor’s decisions and making fake announcements. Similarly, people have not forgotten the 10-year misgovernance of the Congress under Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The opportunity has come for the people of Haryana to get rid of both BJP and Congress.”