JJP in fix as 4 MLAs quit in 2 days

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

A day after the Assembly poll dates were announced, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) MLAs Ramkaran Kala (Shahabad), Ishwar Singh (Guhla) and Devender Singh Babli (Tohana) resigned from all party positions on Saturday.

Former minister and Uklana MLA Anoop Dhanak had resigned from the party on Friday, citing personal reasons.

Additionally, two JJP MLAs — Ram Niwas Surjakhera (Narwana) and Jogi Ram Sihag (Barwala) - had openly supported BJP candidates in the Lok Sabha poll. Former Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala had even approached Speaker Gian Chand Gupta in May to seek the disqualification of Surjakhera and Sihag.

Though the party’s Narnaund MLA Ram Kumar Gautam has not yet submitted his resignation, he was among the most vocal opponents of Dushyant Chautala in the House. On August 10, he announced his intention to contest the elections again but not on a JJP ticket. While addressing his supporters, he stated that he had no affiliation with the JJP and hence, there was no question of contesting as a JJP candidate.

JJP is now left with Dushyant Chautala (Uchana Kalan), his mother Naina Chautala (Badhra) and Amarjeet Dhanda (Julana) as MLAs. After the 2019 poll, the party had 10 MLAs. Kala’s resignation had been long anticipated as he had been avoiding party events, and his sons had joined the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections. Although he has not yet officially joined the Congress, he was seen actively participating in the Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda-led ‘Haryana Mange Hisaab’ programme in Shahabad last month. He has also applied for Congress ticket from Shahabad.

Kala said, “All sections of society wanted me to join the Congress. I will soon hold a meeting with my workers and join the Congress. After the election, the Congress will form a majority government and the pending development works of Shahabad will be completed.”

Ishwar Singh expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s leadership and working style, stating that the JJP has deviated from the principles that initially attracted him. “We joined the JJP in 2019, but it no longer upholds the principles we believed in,” Singh added. “I will join the Congress in Delhi soon,” he said.

Babli remarked, “Five years ago when I was with the Congress, the circumstances were different. At that time, I joined JJP based on the opinion of my supporters. Now, after five years, the situation has changed, which is why I am resigning. My colleagues will decide my next step.”

On defections, Dushyant Chautala recently told The Tribune’s video show, #Decode Haryana, “… we should have named our party TTP — Tau Training Party. We train people, and then, they flee to national parties. It has been happening since Devi Lal’s time.”

(With inputs from Deepender Deswal, Nitish Sharma, Parveen Arora and Anil Kakkar)