BJP gives ticket to rebel JJP MLAs Babli, Dhanak and Gautam, drops ministers Ranjit and Balmiki

The BJP has given tickets to three rebel JJP MLAs Devender Babli, Anoop Dhanak and Ram Kumar Gautam who had joined the BJP after leaving the JJP last week.

The party has dropped two ministers, Ranjit Singh and Vishambhar Balmiki, from the list of candidates.

Babli, who was a JJP MLA from Tohana and was cabinet minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar government, has re-entered the fray from Tohana in Fatehabad district on the BJP ticket. He had extended support to Congress candidate Kumari Selja in the Lok Sabha election and had also joined the race for the Congress ticket but his claim was rejected by Haryana Congress incharge  Deepak Babaria.

Former minister of state Anoop Dhanak, who was a loyalist of JJP leader and former deputy chief minister, but joined the BJP last week, has been fielded from his home segment of Uklana (reserved) in Hisar district.

Gautam, who is one of the founder members of the JJP and is an MLA from Narnaund, has been given ticket from Safidon in Jind district. Gautam is one of the most vocal critics of the JJP leadership.

The BJP has denied the ticket to energy minister Ranjit Singh who had lost the Lok Sabha poll from Hisar on a BJP ticket. He was also aspiring for a BJP ticket from Rania (Sirsa) which he had won in 2019 as an independent but recently joined the BJP. The party opted for Shishpal Kamboj, who is Sirsa district president of the BJP.

Another minister, Vishambhar Balmili, who was two-time MLA from Bawani Khera in Bhiwani, was also dropped by the party and a new face Kapoor Balmiki has been given the ticket.

Another sitting MLA Lakshman Napa from Ratia (reserved) in Fatehabad district has been denied the ticket. The party has fielded former Sirsa MP Sunita Duggal in his place. Duggal had also contested the assembly poll in 2014 and lost.