Chandigarh, Feb 4 (PTI) The Jannayak Janta Party is a strong partner of the NDA, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said on Sunday, adding that the leadership of both the BJP and his party will take a call on the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections.
“We are a strong partner of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and committed to provide a stable government in the state,” he said when asked about the coaltion.
Under the NDA, the leadership of both the parties will sit and decide about the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections, he told reporters.
The Ajay Singh Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) extended support to the BJP in 2019 after the saffron outfit fell short of a majority in the assembly polls.
In recent months, however, the JJP and the BJP have both said they are preparing to contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state and remained non-committal on continuing the alliance or jointly contesting the elections.
The BJP had won all 10 seats in the state in the 2019 elections.
Pointed out that the BJP has said it is preparing to contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, Chautala said, “They are preparing and we are also preparing. We have touched six Lok Sabha seats and the remaining four will be done in February. For each Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seat, our cadre is working. When the two meet, the elections will be contested with the strength of ‘ek aur ek gyaran’.” Chautala also said he will not leave the Uchana assembly segment, adding that those who are to leave Uchana are ready to leave the party.
He was apparently referring to BJP leader Birender Singh, who had earlier threatened to quit if his party continues its alliance with the JJP.
“I can say with confidence that I will not leave Uchana. Those who are to leave Uchana, they are ready to leave the party,” Chautala said.
“I am young and dynamic, I am not tired and retired,” he said.
“I can say with confidence that I am 35 and I will not retire till 80. That means I have 45 years of practical politics ahead. I will work for the betterment of this country and our state,” he said.
Birender Singh’s family and Ajay Singh Chautala’s family are long-time rivals.
In the 2019 assembly polls, Chautala defeated Birender Singh’s wife Prem Lata of the BJP from the Uchana Kalan seat in Jind district.
Chautala also took a swipe at the Congress, claiming the grand old party is a divided house in the state.
“At the national level, the opposition is divided. In the state, I see the Congress is divided. There is a father-son group, another is the SRK group,” said Chautala.
His remarks referred to Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda and the “SRK group” of Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kiran Choudhary.
The deputy chief minister also referred to senior Congress leader Ajay Yadav’s comment that he was feeling suffocated in the Congress.
“I want to say if there is so much suffocation in the Congress, our doors are open for him,” said Chautala.
He also took a dig at the AAP, saying no other state supported the party after the elections in Punjab.
“We also had a trend when a former minister, a former MP and an ex-MLA made a beeline to join the AAP. But today, no one is left in the AAP,” he said, referring to Ashok Tanwar quitting the Arvind Kejriwal-led party to join the BJP last month. PTI CHS VSD SZM
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