Haryana polls: Dushyant, Chandrashekhar Azad reach alliance

Aditi Tandon/Animesh Singh

New Delhi, August 27

JJP and Azad Samaj Party Kanshiram on Tuesday announced a seat sharing deal for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections with Dushyant Chautala's party to contest 70 seats and Chandrashekhar Azad led party to fight on 20.

Terming the alliance a rerun of 1998 when then INLD patriarch Devi Lal became the first leader to support BSP founder Kanshiram's Delhi Boat Club agitation demanding Bharat Ratna for BR Ambedkar, Dushyant ruled out a post poll alliance with the BJP.

Azad also dismissed possibilities of any pact with the BJP saying there was no question of supporting a party that had inflicted damage on common people including farmers.

Asked if he was categorical in ruling out a post poll pact with the BJP, Dushyant said yes.

"We have made it clear. We will never have a pact with BJP again. I have suffered in alliance with BJP and we know how they treat their allies. The so called NDA alliance is now just restricted to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh," Dushyant Chautala said, adding that, "the alliance announced today was primarily devoted to securing farmer interests and strengthen MSP."

He said there was a possibility that JJP and Azad Party may win enough seats to be in a position to form the government, which may encourage other smaller parties to form a government against both the Congress and the BJP.

"Who knows, we may win and smaller parties may join hands to form the government against both the Congress and the BJP," Chautala said answering a Tribune query on whether JJP would be open to a situation such as 2019.

The two leaders are hoping to play kingmaker in future.

"Why not, we can play kingmakers," said Dushyant, still ruling out a pact with the BJP and saying that in 2019 his party went with BJP to give the state of Haryana a stable government, Dushyant said.

At the time, Congress was unable to bring even five independents on board, he added.

The two leaders, both 36, urged like minded parties in Haryana to join hands with them.

Political observers however say the alliance between JJP and Azad Party would seek to dent the voter base of Congress which is currently commanding a strong presence among both Jats and Dalits.

This could well be a ploy to help the BJP, an observer said. The BJP is struggling to get a footholds anong state's influential Jats and is wary of prospects among the Scheduled Castes after Congress Party's consistent attempts to paint the saffron party as anti Dalit.

The Congress had launched a major offensive against BJP's lateral entry into central government questioning lack of SC, ST, OBC quota provisions in the 45 advertised posts. The Centre had to roll back the move.