Chautalas eye BJP and Congress turncoats
Amid a flurry of resignations in the Haryana BJP over distribution of ticket for the Assembly election, and the Congress too expected to ‘upset’ a few ticketseekers, coalitions led by the Chautalas in the State have kept the doors open for a few “prized catch” anticipating a political chaos.
While Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party ( JJP) is in alliance with the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), led by former Leader of the Opposition Abhay Chautala, has tied up with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.
To boost electoral prospects, both alliances have adopted a waitandwatch strategy, keeping the lists of candidates on hold to accommodate leaders from the two parties should they approach them.
Conceding that the JJP, an offshoot of the INLD, is new to Haryana politics and may not have suitable candidates for all the seats, a source in the party told The Hindu that the party was pinning hopes on deserters from the BJP and the Congress.
Claiming that already 15 to 20 BJP leaders have contacted the party leadership over the past two days, the source added that the number could go up after the Congress announces its list.
The JJP has named only 15 candidates so far, mostly those who are unlikely to be replaced, and its ally ASP has fielded only four candidates. While the JJP is contesting 70 seats, the ASP will contest 20 seats.
Most of the JJP’s 10 MLAs from the 2019 Assembly election have left the party to join the Congress and the BJP after the polls were announced recently.
In Haryana, anyone contesting as an alliance candidate would get a boost of around 10,00015,000 votes as compared to fighting as an Independent, said another JJP leader, adding that Mr. Dushyant, the former Deputy Chief Minister, was expected to be in New Delhi from September 6 and 10 to clear the names of candidates joining from other parties.
JJP welcomes leaders
“If even five to seven turncoats win in a multicornered contest, the JJP can again emerge as the key player,” said the leader, adding that the party leadership will not shy away from approaching “good leaders” from other parties if it falls short of right candidates on some of the seats.
INLD media coordinator Rakesh Sihag said the party being cadrebased would prefer to field its own workers but was open to welcome leaders from the other parties with “good reputation and mass base”. “We are not averse to accepting leaders from other parties, but not anyone and everyone is welcome,” said Mr. Sihag.
Contesting 53 seats as part of the alliance, the INLD has announced only 10 candidates so far. Another INLD leader said a couple of BJP leaders were in touch with the party, but the leadership was not very keen on them due to the antiincumbency sentiment against the BJP. He added that any heavyweight Congress leader would be preferred.
INLD’s partner, the BSP, too has decided to wait till the announcement of Congress candidates before releasing its complete list.