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Followed ‘alliance dharma’ even when insulted: Dushyant Chautala amid BJP-JJP row
The BJP won all 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) leader and former Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala on Wednesday alleged that his party followed the “alliance dharma” with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) even when the latter’s leaders repeatedly insulted him and his party leadership.
Chautala, who was addressing a rally in Hisar a day after the BJP snapped ties with his party just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, said his party was preparing for two parliamentary seats — Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh — but that the BJP was not willing to offer the JJP more than one seat.
The former deputy CM said that he recently met BJP president JP Nadda. “I told Nadda that we are preparing on two seats, Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh,” he said, adding that the BJP chief told him that his party could offer only the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat to the JJP.
The BJP won all 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Chautala also attacked former Tripura chief minister and BJP’s Haryana in-charge Biplab Deb, accusing him of making several attempts to break the BJP-JJP alliance.
Read Here | Haryana politics: Break up in state, a strategy in play
“Deb made remarks against me, and my party, and made all attempts to insult me. However, to fulfil the alliance dharma, I remained quiet every time,” he contended. On the upcoming general elections, he said party chief Ajay Chautala will take a final call on fielding candidates.
“The party chief will decide whether we will contest on two seats, all seats or focus on assembly polls. If he asks me, I am ready to contest again from the Hisar parliamentary seat,” he added.
HT reached out to BJP leaders for a comment, but could not get one immediately.
On Tuesday evening, Nayab Singh Saini (54) was sworn-in as Haryana chief minister after the surprise resignation of Manohar Lal Khattar following the exit of the JJP from the state’s ruling coalition.
Those who attended the rally included JJP Shahbad MLA Ram Karan Kala, Uklana MLA Anoop Dhanak and Julana legislator Amarjeet. However, Dushyant’s mother, Naina, was in Delhi and the five rebel MLAs skipped the rally.
