File photo of former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala during a press conference.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Five of the ten Jannayak Janta Party MLAs stayed away from its meeting in Delhi on March 12 fuelling speculations of a possible split in the party after the Bharatiya Janata Party broke alliance with it to put in place a five-member cabinet led by OBC leader and Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini as the new Chief Minister of the State.
Emerging out of the meeting at Chautala’s Asola farmhouse in the afternoon, party’s State president Sardar Nisan Singh refused to comment on the number of MLAs present at the meeting, and added that the decisions taken at the meeting would be shared with the media at the party’s “Nav Sankalp Rally” in Hisar. “All issues were discussed in the meeting presided over by party’s national president Ajay Singh Chautala. But these would be shared at the rally tomorrow,” said Mr. Singh.
JJP sources, however, told The Hindu that Tohana MLA and Panchayats Minister in the outgoing government Devender Singh Babli, Narnaund MLA Ram Kumar Gautam, Barwala MLA Jogiram Sihag, Narwana MLA Ram Niwas, and Gulha MLA Ishwar Singh did not attend the meeting for different reasons. Four of these MLAs, except Mr. Gautam, a known critic of former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, were later present at the new government’s oath-taking ceremony in Chandigarh.
When contacted over phone, Mr. Gautam said he was busy in a family function and was in Hisar.
However, with six Independent MLAs and lone Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda already offering support to the BJP, the saffron party might not need the support of the disgruntled JJP MLAs.
Though the JJP leadership maintained a studied silence on the turn of events during the day and avoided interaction with the media, Mr. Dushyant Chautala, in a post on “X”, expressed his gratitude to the citizens of Haryana for providing him the opportunity to serve the state as Deputy Chief Minister. He said he would remain devoted to protect the interests of Haryana and its citizens following the footsteps of legendary farmer leader late Chaudhary Devi Lal.
