Jolt to JJP as nat’l vice-president announces to quit party

Satpal Sangwan said initially he had decided to quit active politics but people have forced him to call a “workers rally” and take the decision as per their wishes

In a major jolt to the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), its national vice-president and former Haryana minister Satpal Sangwan on Monday announced to quit the party and called a rally of his supporters on November 19 to take a further call about his next political move.

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Addressing a press conference at Charkhi Dadri, Sangwan said initially, he had decided to quit active politics but people have forced him to call a “workers rally” and take the political decision as per their wishes as they have been associated with him for over three decades.

“The people are unhappy with this current regime. They will come without carrying flags of any party and I will take political decisions according to their wishes. If they ask me not to contest the poll, I will follow their advice. In the 2019 assembly polls, Congress leader Kiran Choudhry and BJP’s Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir Singh had joined hands and they asked the public to vote against me. Both of them are arch rivals but every time they join hands to ensure my defeat from the Dadri constituency,” the former minister added.

Sangwan had contested his first assembly election in the then Haryana Vikas Party from Dadri in 1996 and he won the poll. He was elected MLA for the second time in 2009 assembly polls from the same seat on Haryana Janhit Congress’s ticket, and he along with other MLAs became rebel and switched over to Congress. The then CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda inducted Sangwan into his cabinet. In the 2014 assembly polls, he fought on Congress’s ticket from Dadri and he lost the battle. In 2019 assembly polls, Congress denied him the ticket and he jumped into the JJP and fought the election from Dadri. He remained in second position and independent Sombir Sangwan won the poll.