Uncertain Horizons In Haryana: Dushyant Chautala Refuses To Speculate On Future Of BJP-JJP Alliance Ahead Of 2024 Elections

Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautula's response on continuing the JJP-BJP alliance in 2024 elections was non-committal, suggesting caution from both parties.

Chautala, at a press conference, declined to predict the future of BJP-JPP alliance in Haryana, saying he wasn't an "astrologer."

Deputy Chief Minister said the number of seats the JJP will contest in the Lok Sabha polls will be known in the "future". He mentioned the party is ready for all 10 Haryana seats.

The response is different from four months ago when he had confirmed that JJP would participate in the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections with BJP.

Amit Shah, the senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister, expressed in January that the party may contest the elections alone in Haryana, announcing that "the Lotus will bloom in all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana in 2024".

The parties' statements suggest they may be rethinking their approach prior to the 2024 elections. Elections for Lok Sabha are expected in April or May next year, while the Haryana Assembly polls are scheduled for October.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, BJP and JJP contested separately. BJP won 40 seats but fell short of a majority in the 90-member Haryana Vidhan Sabha. As a result, they formed a government with JJP, who had won 10 seats.

The BJP is reportedly scrutinising if Chautala still remains popular among the Jat community, a prominent voting group in the state, as they seek to assess his potential appeal as a political candidate.

The significance of the Jat vote bank has been heightened by the increased involvement of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who also belongs to the Jat community, in state Congress affairs.

In April 2022, the appointment of a Hooda loyalist, Udai Bhan, as the Haryana Congress president further bolstered his support base among Jats, according to Hooda supporters.

During the farmer agitation in 2020-21, farmers demanded the JJP, who were their main support base, to break ties with the BJP. This move appears to have angered the farmer community towards the JJP, leading to a negative perception within BJP circles.

The BJP is actively courting influential families in the state, such as the Chautalas, with Ranjit Singh Chautala, an Independent MLA and son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, already a part of the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Cabinet. Ranjit has expressed his eagerness to contest the upcoming election on a BJP ticket.

Additionally, the appointment of Aditya Devi Lal, a grandson of Devi Lal, as the chairperson of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board demonstrates the BJP's interest in establishing close ties with powerful families.

Chaudhary Birender Singh, a former union minister and BJP leader, remarked a few months ago: “The BJP did not get a clear majority in the 2019 Assembly polls. The BJP wanted help from someone for a stable government which it got in the JJP. This alliance (BJP-JJP) is for five years to run the government. Will it sustain in the future too? I do not think so.”

When questioned on Singh's remark, Chautala replied that he can't fix anyone's grievance, but they have been working well for over three years to aid the state's progression, which has been successful.

Chautala said: “A day before yesterday, I was listening to Pradhan Mantriji. On the occasion of the BJP’s foundation day, he (the PM) said, ‘We were a party of two MPs, now we have crossed the mark of 300’. Do we have to limit our organisation (the JJP) just to 10 seats? Not at all. Will the BJP contest the (Assembly polls) by limiting itself to 40 seats only? No. Both parties are preparing (to contest) all 90 seats. A decision (on the alliance), which will be taken, lies in the future. Who does not want growth?”

Subhash Barala, the former state BJP president, claimed that there were no discrepancies between the BJP-JJP alliance. State Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister J P Dalal noted that the “central leadership will take a call for the future”.