JJP’s rebel MLA set to join BJP, eyeing Safidon ticket
Tribune News Service
Hisar, August 31
Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLA from Narnaund Ram Kumar Gautam today resigned from the party and is set to join the BJP in a rally in Jind on Sunday.
Sources close to him revealed that Gautam had been aspiring for the BJP ticket from Safidon Assembly constituency in Jind district. He would join the party in a state-level rally in Jind on Sunday.
Gautam who has been one of the strongest critics of JJP leader Dushyant Chatuala, who served as the deputy Chief Minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar Cabinet for nearly four and a half years.
The sources said Gautam was upset with the JJP leadership after he was denied the ministerial berth in the quota of the JJP in the Khattar Cabinet. Though Gautam revolted against the leadership and even made critical comments in public and in the Assembly, he opted not to resign from the Assembly or the party. He is the last of the seven MLAs who had quit the party.
Sources said Gautam had met Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Khattar recently. He even held a meeting of his supporters in Narnaund on August 10 to announce that he would contest the Assembly polls but did not reveal his plans.
The BJP insiders revealed that he had sought a ticket from Narnaund. But the party denied him the ticket as former Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu has been a strong contender for the ticket from the segment.