NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha and Haryana Assembly elections seem to be a battle for survival for the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the breakaway faction of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
Recently, Ajay Singh Chautala, father of former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chatuala and national president of the JJP, expressed his willingness to rejoin parent party INLD provided his father and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala extend an invitation. But his younger brother Abhay Chautala made it clear that there is no chance of reconciliation.
The JJP is facing the ire of its core voters, the farmers, for its “anti-farmer” stance during the year-long stir against the now-scrapped farm laws.
While campaigning for Rao Bahadur Singh, the sole candidate the JJP has announced so far from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat Ajay Chautala recently at Charkhi Dadri said, “if he (Om Parkash Chautala) invites us tomorrow, we will go tomorrow itself.’’
Elaborating further, he said, “Many people are making efforts in this direction, but initiative has to be taken by Om Prakash Chautala, as he is our leader.”
The JJP was formed in December 2018 after a vertical split in the INLD following a feud in the Chautala family. The party won 10 seats in the 2019 Assembly election and formed a coalition government with the BJP. The INLD, led by former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, however, was reduced to a single seat in the 2019 assembly elections, five years after it finished runner-up in the 2014 election with 19 seats.
INLD senior leader and younger brother Abhay Chautala hit out at Ajay and he called him “traitor “ who betrayed the INLD and OP Chautala. “First, they should say why they left and what the vested interest was. When they left, the INLD had a tie-up with the BSP, and there was a situation where the INLD would have come to power in the 2019 assembly elections. Why did they indulge in indiscipline? They should make all these things clear about why they left the party,’’ he said.
“Earlier also Chautala Sahab (OP Chautala) made it clear many times that they have nothing to do with us. They are traitors, and they backstabbed the party. They betrayed Chautala Sahab,” said Abhay.
Talking about the resignations of the Nishan Singh, the Haryana president of JJP and some other leaders, Abhay said, “Now Ajay Chautala is saying these things as their party is finished. It is finished socially as well as politically.”
JJP leaders disgrunted
The trouble for JJP began when five of its MLAs — Devender Babli, Ram Kumar Gautam, Ishwar Singh, Jogi Ram Sihag, and Ram Niwas refused to heed the party whip and attended the Assembly on the day of the trust vote. But they left before the vote. Later its several MLAs including Nishan Singh, the Haryana president resigned from the party. Its main cadre farmers and Jat voters are unhappy over the failure to address their issues.