Jannayak Janta Party leader and Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala said on Monday that the party will contest all 10 Lok Sabha and 90 Assembly seats in Haryana. The party may also contest on one seat in Delhi, he said.
Party symbol
Mr. Dushyant said the JJP has just been recognised as a registered party and will get the party symbol next week. The party came into existence in December last year after the Indian National Lok Dal, a party founded by former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, split following a bitter power struggle between his grandsons Abhay Chautala and Ajay Chautala. Dushyant Chautala is Ajay’s elder son.
The Hisar MP also ruled out any possibility of alliance with the INLD for the upcoming polls.
Asked about the Aam Aadmi Party deciding to fight on the Lok Sabha seats from Haryana on its own strength after supporting JJP’s candidate in the Jind bypoll in January, Mr. Dushyant said there was never any formal alliance with AAP. “AAP supported us, but there was no alliance with them. Nobody had announced any alliance,” he said.
AAP, which had indicated that it could enter into a tie-up with the JJP after extending support to it in the Jind bypoll, failed to reach an agreement on seat-sharing with the fledgling outfit.
“The JJP fought the Jind by-election within 40 days of formation of the party and gave a good fight to the BJP candidate. We beat the Congress hands down,” said Mr. Dushyant on his brother Digvijay Chautala finishing runner-up.
INLD flayed
“The party which made fun of us (INLD) and called us ‘bachha’ (child) forfeited its security deposit. This shows the people’s support, especially of the youth, to the JJP. We will perform well in the upcoming LS and then Vidhan Sabha polls,” the Hisar MP said.
On his uncle (Abhay Chautala), whom he had recently dubbed as a “non-serious politician”, Mr. Dushyant said, “Blood relations in the family will remain intact, but political ideology differs and there will not be any compromise with the ideology.”