Haryana polls: From kingmaker to king, Dushyant Chautala eyes bigger goal

JJP leader Dushyant Chautala, whose party is contesting the October 5 Haryana assembly polls jointly with Azad Samaj Party, predicts a hung assembly but exudes confidence that their alliance will win enough seats to emerge as a key player after the results.

The JJP had won 10 of the 90 assembly seats in the 2019 Haryana assembly polls, the BJP 40 and the Congress 31.

Chautala, 36, the great grandson of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, predicts that no single party will be able to cross the 40-seat mark in the assembly elections.

No single party can form government on its own. There are chances that nobody crosses the 40-seat mark. So, there will be parties with numbers and some Independents too who will win, former deputy chief minister Chautala told PTI.

 

"Our alliance will win enough number of seats and emerge as a strong player in the scenario," he said.

Asked whether they will support any other outfit in case of a hung assembly, Chautala quipped, "Why to go behind somebody. Why can't somebody come behind us. Anybody can form a good alliance in which we lead... rest of the things we can comment when results are out," he said.

"We have seen that in Delhi, Jharkhand and in Bihar, (Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar (JDU) has only 44 MLAs," he said.

Former MP Ajay Singh Chautala-led JJP and Chandra Shekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) had recently announced their alliance for the Haryana polls.

While the JJP is fighting on 69 seats, the ASP has fielded 16 candidates. From Dabwali segment, the JJP has fielded Dushyant's brother Digvijay Singh Chautala.

The JJP-ASP alliance has extended support to three Independents on Rania, Meham and Pundri seats while not fielding any candidates in two constituencies.

In the 2019 assembly polls, the JJP had won 10 of the 90 assembly seats, the BJP 40 and the Congress 31. Emerging as a 'kingmaker', it entered into a post-poll tie-up with BJP, which had fallen short of majority.

The JJP was part of the coalition government led by former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar from October 2019 to March 2024.

However, the JJP-BJP alliance ended after the saffron outfit replaced Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister in March. Khattar is now a Union minister.

On entering into a tie-up with the ASP, Chautala said the concern of both the outfits is upliftment of farmers and weaker sections and having a common goal.

Chautala is seeking re-election from Uchana Kalan segment and is up against former Union minister Birender Singh's son Brijendra Singh, a Congress leader.

Chautala won the seat in 2019, defeating Brijendra's mother Prem Lata Singh by over 47,000 votes. Prem Lata, who was then with the BJP, had defeated Chautala in 2014.

Appearing confident of retaining the seat, he minced no words in hitting out at his party's former ally BJP, saying the people of Haryana want to show the party the way out.

Chautala, who holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from California State University, also claimed that the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is working as the BJP's 'B' team and their "hidden alliance" has become visible after BJP's Sirsa candidate withdrew his nomination to favour sitting Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda.

"On the other hand, while the INLD extended support to Gopal Kanda, the latter recently said on a TV channel that if elected he will go with the BJP. So, their behind-the-curtain alliance is now open in front of public," he said.

He said unemployment, law and order, and property are the issues in the urban areas while problems faced by farmers are some of the major issues.

Chautala admits that during the farmers' agitation against the now repealed farm laws, while the sentiment of farmers was against the BJP, the JJP too felt the heat as it was a ruling coalition partner.

However, he made it clear that right from the start when the farm bills were brought, he had maintained that the Centre should talk to the farmers and resolve the issue.

Being deputy chief minister and handling multiple portfolios, he ensured that farmers' interests in the state were always protected, he said.

"When we were part of the government, I ensured that farmers faced no problem. We tried to protect them in each and every manner. Purchase centres were doubled in last five years.

"MSP, which used to be given for only on five crops, we took it to 14 crops (last month the Nayab Singh Saini government approved to purchase 10 more crops at MSP). Farmers were given payment directly into their accounts within 48 hours of procurement of crops. Crop damage compensation was given within one month into their bank accounts," he said, referring to when he was the deputy chief minister.

While there was a sentiment which prevailed when the farmers' agitation was at its peak, now farmers understand the steps which the JJP ensured for their welfare while in power, he said.

"After Chief Minister Nayab Saini took over, in the last procurement he was not able to pay farmers in two days. Procurement was also mishandled. Payments of bajra came after one-and-a-half months, so people understand," he said.

In 2017, as the country's youngest MP then, Chautala had attracted eyeballs when he reached Parliament to attend the winter session riding a green-coloured tractor to protest tweaking of certain rules relating to the Motor Vehicles Act which, he had claimed, would add to farmers' woes.

At that time, Chautala was a Hisar MP from the INLD before its vertical split in 2018 leading to formation of the JJP.

On Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda often dubbing parties like the JJP and INLD as "vote kattus (vote cutters), he said, "He has been saying so for the last 10 years now."

Polling for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and votes will be counted on October 8.