JJP, Azad’s party tie up in Haryana

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 27

The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Azad Samaj Party-Kanshi Ram (ASP-KR) on Tuesday stitched an alliance for the Haryana Assembly elections. Under the agreement, Dushyant Chautala’s JJP will contest 70 seats while the remaining 20 will go to Chandra Shekhar Azad’s ASP-KR.

Dushyant, the outgoing Deputy CM of Haryana, dubbed the alliance a replay of 1998 when the then INLD patriarch and his great-grandfather, Devi Lal, became the first leader to support BSP founder Kanshiram’s Delhi Boat Club agitation, which called for Bharat Ratna for BR Ambedkar.

Asked about the possibility of a post-election alliance with JJP’s former ally BJP, Dushyant firmly ruled it out. Azad, a first-time MP from Nagina in UP, also dismissed the idea of joining hands with the BJP, accusing the party of harming the interests of workers and farmers.

“Our stance is clear. We will never ally with the BJP again. The JJP suffered after forming an alliance with the BJP and we now fully understand how they treat their partners... The NDA is now restricted only to Bihar (JD-U) and Andhra Pradesh (TDP),” said Dushyant. He said the JJP’s pact with the ASP-KR was aimed at protecting the interests of farmers and fighting for crop MSP.

Dushyant said he was optimistic about the JJP-ASP-KR alliance winning enough seats to form the government independently. He said this might encourage smaller parties in other states to take on the BJP and the Congress on their own.

The two leaders also hinted at playing kingmakers if the elections resulted in a hung Assembly. “Why not, we can be kingmakers!” Dushyant responded when asked about their strategy in a scenario similar to 2019. However, Dushyant made it clear his party wouldn’t support the BJP even if it faced a repeat of 2019. Dushyant and Azad, both aged 36, called on like-minded parties in Haryana to join forces with them.

Political analysts suggest the JJP’s alliance with the ASP-KR aims to dent the voter base of the Congress among both Jats and Dalits. This election is seen as a survival battle for the JJP, which received only 1 per cent vote share in 2019. Moreover, the INLD, led by Dushyant’s grandfather Om Prakash Chautala, has teamed up with the BSP for the Haryana elections.

The analysts believe that the fight among several parties for Jat and Dalit votes could ultimately benefit the BJP. They say the BJP has been struggling to gain a foothold among the influential Jat community and faces challenges with the Scheduled Castes too due to the Congress’ attempts to portray the saffron party as “anti-Dalit”. The Congress recently launched a major offensive against the BJP over lateral entry into central jobs, questioning the absence of SC, ST and OBC quota in the 45 advertised posts. The pressure forced the Centre to roll back the recruitment process.