Chandigarh:

The political landscape of Haryana dominated significantly by the Jat community has witnessed a drastic change in the last decade, ever since the BJP came to power in 2014, and continued its winning streak in 2024 as indicated by the results announced on Tuesday for the October 5 Assembly elections. 

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and its breakaway faction Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which played the kingmaker in the 2019 assembly poll, have been decimated this time.

Jats, who constitute about 27 per cent of the electorate and once the traditional vote base of Haryana’s regional parties, seemed to have made a sway — a shift that proved detrimental for INLD and JJP. 

While the results came as a massive setback for Dushyant Chautala, the youngest scion Arjun Chautala, however, managed to defeat Independent candidate and sitting legislator Ranjit Singh — an outcome from which the party might hope that all is not lost yet.

Both patriarch-dominated regional parties lost their grip, concentrated largely in rural areas, with their top leaders Abhay Singh Chautala of the INLD and his nephew Dushyant Chautala of the JJP biting the dust.

They are from the legacy of former Deputy Prime Minister and the state’s tallest Jat leader, Chaudhary Devi Lal who, with his family ruled the state’s dusty and defection-ridden politics for decades.

Abhay Chautala was defeated from his stronghold Ellenabad by Congress nominee Bharat Singh Beniwal. JJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala faced a major defeat from the Jat-dominated Uchana Kalan constituency, finishing sixth. BJP’s Devender Attri defeated Congress’ Brijendra Singh from Uchana Kalan seat in Jind.

Outgoing legislator Abhay Chautala has won the Ellenabad seat four times since 2010 and his grandfather, Devi Lal, served as the deputy prime minister.

Interestingly, the JJP, which was at the helm with the outgoing BJP government led by Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for four and a half years, has struggled to secure any seat or build a significant vote base across Haryana, marking a tough setback.

However, INLD’s youngest scion Arjun Chautala defeated Independent candidate and sitting legislator Ranjit Singh with 6,507 votes from Rania.

The INLD partnered with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), while its breakaway faction JJP, which had an alliance with the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), promised to launch the Jannayak Fasal Suraksha Bima Yojana for the prosperity of farmers if the combine forms the government.

Eyeing the Dalit voters, who constitute 21 per cent of the state’s population, the JJP contested 70 seats, while the Azad Samaj Party fielded candidates in the remaining 20 seats.

Interestingly, the INLD stitched an alliance with the BSP to woo the Dalits with leaders of both parties agreeing to project Abhay Chautala as the Chief Minister’s face. As per the alliance, the INLD contested 53 seats, while the BSP fielded candidates on 37 seats.

At the launch of the JJP-Azad Samaj Party alliance, both Dushyant Chautala and Chandra Shekhar, who are both 36 years old, had promised to fight for the rights and welfare of the farmers and to form a “government of the youth”.

Dushyant Chautala’s brother, Digvijaya Singh Chautala, faced defeat from Sirsa’s Dabwali constituency, while Sunaina Chautala of the INLD lost from Fatehabad.

After the feud within the INLD, five-time Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala’s grandson Dushyant split the party vertically in 2018 and formed the JJP.

INLD’s breakaway faction, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), led by Dushyant Chautala, who in 2014 was the county’s youngest MP at the age of 26 and was the Deputy Chief Minister in the state government led by Manohar Lal Khattar, is in an alliance with the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), while the INLD has tied up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

During the campaigning, the INLD was banking on its performance from March 2000 to March 2005, the longest term of Om Prakash Chautala. After that, the party emerged as the principal opposition party in the 2014 polls with 19 legislators. In the outgoing Assembly, the party has a lone legislator, Abhay Chautala.

The BJP’s vote share in the October 2019 Assembly election was 36.49 per cent when the party could not cross the halfway mark in the 90-member Assembly and stitched a post-poll alliance with the JJP.

The Congress registered over 15 per cent rise in its vote share in 2024 in comparison to the 2019 parliamentary election vote share.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The BJP is headed for a third straight term in Haryana, turning the exit poll predictions on its head. The BJP is leading in 49 of Haryana’s 90 seats. The Congress trailed with 34, and said it refused to accept the results. Here are the big winners in the state and the upsets: 

Winners

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini led has won from his Ladwa constituency, over Congress’ Mewa Singh. The BJP has decided that Mr Saini would remain in the top post, sources said — an acknowledgement of his role in dispelling the accumulated anti-incumbency against his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar’s government.

Former state minister Anil Vij of the BJP has won from the Ambala Cantonment, beating Congress’s Parvinder Pal Pari by 44989 votes. Although BJP had made it clear before the polls that Nayab Singh Saini will retain his post if the party wins, Mr Vij, a six-time MLA, had recently thrown his hat in the ring for the post. Asked about the matter today, Mr Vij said he has always dedicated himself for the party and never asked anything.

Congress’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda has retained his Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat in Rohtak district, defeating his nearest BJP rival, Manju. Mr Hooda, 77, won by a convincing margin of 71,465 votes defeating BJP’s Manju Hooda.

Congress candidate and wrestler Vinesh Phogat defeated her nearest rival and BJP nominee Yogesh Kumar by a margin of 6,015 votes. Election Commission data shows the Olympian had polled 65,080 votes while her BJP opponent secured 59,065 votes. “It is a victory of ‘sangharh’ (struggle) and victory of truth… I will always keep the trust and love of the people,” she said after the results were announced.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala’s son Aditya Surjewala defeated BJP’s sitting MLA Leela Ram by a margin of 8,124 votes. This was the debut election for the 25-year-old who had contested from Haryana’s Kaithal.  A graduate from the from the University of British Columbia, he had to face the taunts of “super foreigner” from the BJP.

Losers

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala lost from the Ellenabad assembly seat in Haryana. Mr Chautala, the outgoing MLA, was defeated by Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal by a margin of 15,000 votes.

Dushyant Chautala, the chief of Jannayak Janata Party, has lost to the BJP’s Devender Chatar Bhuj Atttri from the Uchana Kalan constituency. The former ally of the BJP, which broke alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections citing farmers’ anger and anti-incumbency against the BJP, has failed to post a single victory in this election.

Udai Bhan, the chief of Haryana Congress, has lost to the BJP’s Harinder Singh from Haryana’s Hodal assembly seat by a margin of over 2,500 votes, underscoring the Opposition party’s defeat in the election it was hoping to win. It also raises questions about the Congress support among Scheduled Castes, which the party had been banking on along with Jat support in this election.

Congress’s Surender Panwar, who recently made headlines for being investigated in a case involving illegal mining, has lost from Sonipat to the BJP’s Nikhil Maadan by a margin of 29627 votes. Mr Panwar was the sitting MLA from Sonipat, having won in the 2019 polls against the BJP’s Kavita Jain. 

Dharam Singh Chhoker, the Congress MLA from Samalkha, lost to the BJP’s Manmohan Bhadana by 19,315 votes.  Considered a close aide of Congress’s former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he is facing a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. His son Sikhander Singh is arrested in the same case. 

Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala, a former coalition partner of the BJP, lost his Uchana Kalan seat in the Haryana polls, the votes for which were counted today.

BJP candidate Devender Chatar Bhuj Attri emerged the winner by a margin of just 32 votes, as per the Election Commission. He beat his nearest rival and Congress candidate and former IAS officer Brijendra Singh.

Mr Chautala, who was the outgoing MLA from Uchana seat, was at the fifth spot.

Mr Attri polled 48,968 votes while Congress’ Singh, who is the son of former union minister Birender Singh, secured 48,936 votes. Mr Chautala got 7,950 votes.

In the 2019 elections, 36-year-old Dushyant Chautala defeated Prem Lata, the wife of veteran leader Birender Singh, who was with the BJP at that time.

After the last assembly polls in Haryana, the BJP formed the government with the support of the 10 JJP MLAS. Dushyant Chautala was the Deputy Chief Minister. The parties fell out over seat sharing in the state for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

This time, however, beating anti-incumbency and exit poll predictions, the BJP is leading in 49 of Haryana’s 90 seats. The Congress, shocked by the result, says that it cannot accept them.
 

Dushyant Chautala
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

New Delhi:

Three MLAs from Haryana – among them Jannayak Janata Party leader Devender Singh Babli – have joined the BJP, as the ruling party is out to bolster its ranks ahead of the upcoming state elections. All three are leaders from the Jat community, among which the BJP intends to expand its footprint after its bitter break-up with the JJP ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

Devender Singh Babli, who represented Tohana in the state assembly, was a minister in the government headed by former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He was the second JJP minister in the Khattar government – the other being JJP chief Dushyant Singh Chautala.

There is speculation that the BJP might reward him with a ticket in the polls.

There were reports that Mr Singh was initially keen on joining Congress, but the state Congress could not assure him that he would be fielded from Tohana. Several other leaders of the party have been eyeing the seat. 

Two other leaders, Sunil Sangwan, whose father Satpal Sangwan is a former Haryana minister, and Sanjay Kablana, have also joined the BJP.

All three joined the BJP in presence of its general secretary Arun Singh, former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and Haryana unit president Mohan Lal Badoli.

The BJP, Mr Singh said, is driven by the mindset of development and exuded confidence that the party will return to power for a third term. A pro-BJP mood prevails in Haryana, he added.

The defection of Devender Singh Babli has left Dushyant Chautala with just three of his 10 MLAs. That includes him and his mother, Naina Chautala.  The third is Amarjeet Singh Dhanda, the MLA from Julana.

Ram Niwas Surjakhera’s attempt to change camp got blocked after rape allegations were levelled against him.

Mr Chautala appeared unfazed by the defection and posted a short poem on X, formerly Twitter, which roughly translates as: 

First they said they would cross 400,
Now they are taking leaders on loan from the JJP,
Sitting in Delhi, they are waiting.
They can’t even find 90 candidates
Their leaders are hunting in the assembly
No victory in Karnal, defeat in Ladwa too,
Just let October 5 come this time,
After that they are out forever.

अब तक तो कहते थे वो 400 पार,
नेता लेने पड़ रहे हैं जेजेपी से उधार,
दिल्ली में बैठे कर रहे है इंतज़ार,
हो नहीं रहे इनके पूरे 90 उम्मीदवार,
विधानसभा ढूँढ रहे हैं इनके सरदार,
ना करनाल में जीत,लाडवा में भी हार,
बस आने दो 5 अक्तूबर इस बार,
उसके बाद ये हमेशा के लिए बाहर। pic.twitter.com/0jr8wOf56c

— Dushyant Chautala (@Dchautala) September 2, 2024

Haryana goes to polls on October 5. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

New Delhi:

Former Haryana Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala was fined by the traffic police in Faridabad for not wearing a helmet during a political road show.

Mr Chautala of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) was fined Rs 2,000 for the road safety violation while riding a motorcycle, the police said.

The police have also seized 14 motorcycles involved in the road show. The two-wheeler that Mr Chautala was riding was registered in the name of an individual, Riyasat Ali.

JJP leader Karamat Ali had organised a public meeting in Gochi, and Mr Chautala had visited as the chief guest. At least a hundred JJP workers were seen riding without helmets, the police said, adding they are identifying the number plates to send challans.

A total of 15 challans were issued during the road show.

Mr Chautala said the party will soon finalise its candidates for the October 1 Haryana election. He said there will be no place for those who have “betrayed” the organisation. The former Deputy Chief Minister said the JJP is fully in election mode, with preparations underway at a rapid pace.

The Ajay Singh Chautala-led JJP and the Chandra Shekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) on Tuesday announced their alliance for the assembly polls. Under the alliance formula, the JJP will contest 70 of the 90 assembly seats, while the Azad Samaj Party will contest 20.

Dushyant Chautala said that an important meeting of the JJP’s political affairs committee is scheduled for September 2 where most candidates of his party will be finalised.

Asserting that Jannayak Janta Party will not ally with the BJP for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls, JJP Chief and former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Sunday claimed that the party will be “most important” party in “coming days.”

In an exclusive interview with the ANI on Sunday, Dushyant Chautala said, “I can on record assure you that I won’t go to the BJP.”

When asked about their rout in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Dushyant Chautala said, “I don’t take it as a crisis now. What had happened, happened. I see that as an opportunity now…last time also, our party was a kingmaker…you can see the coming days as well; JJP will be the most important political party of the state (Haryana).”

After the last assembly polls in Haryana, the BJP formed the government with the support of the 10 JJP MLAS.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, JJP got only 0.87 per cent of the vote share, with none of its candidates winning any seat in the state.

When asked if he would ally with the INDIA alliance, he said, “Let’s see if we have the numbers and yes, if our party is taken as a priority, then why not?

Sharing his experience on when JJP was a part of the NDA alliance, Dushyant Chautala said, “I have stayed with the NDA alliance… I have never changed my stance on them despite the wrestlers’ issue and the farmers’ issue. But if they don’t give respect, then in the coming days who will give assurance?”

Dushyant Chautala also spoke about the reasons for the party’s setback during the Lok Sabha elections and said that maybe the JJP “couldn’t understand the sentiments” of the farmers and therefore “paid the price during Lok Sabha elections.”

“There was anger due to farmers’ agitation. Our major vote share was of farmers and that major vote share wanted me to step down during the agitation. My party and I thought we should stand with the government and make amendments as the bills were under the central government…Maybe we couldn’t understand the sentiments and that’s why we paid the price during Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Fatehabad/Jind:

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Jannayak Janata Party made it clear on Thursday they were not in talks for a pre-poll alliance in Haryana. Speaking at Fatehabad, senior AAP leader Sandeep Pathak dismissed suggestions there was any discussion going on about a tie-up with the JJP for the October 1 polls, while the JJP’s Dushyant Chautala said in Jind his party was prepared to fight all the 90 seats in the state.

Mr Chautala, a former deputy chief minister of Haryana, said it is the media which keeps on talking about such an alliance.

Mr Pathak also said his party will announce its candidates for the assembly polls soon. There is no discussion going on about the alliance with the JJP, he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of his party workers and office-bearers.

He held two meetings on Thursday: one at Fatehabad (with workers and officer-bearers from Sirsa and Hisar Lok Sabha segments), and the other at Bhiwani (with workers and office-bearers from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Rohtak Lok Sabha segments).

On being asked about any possibility of an alliance with JJP, Mr Pathak said, “We do not know with which party JJP is forming an alliance I want to tell Dushyant Chautala not to spread confusion about alliance.” There is no discussion going on about the alliance with JJP, he said assertively.

The AAP had said last month it will contest all the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, claiming that people want change and are looking at the party with great hope.

In Jind, Mr Chautala, many of whose party MLAs have quit, said, “We are prepared for all 90 seats. The JJP will win more seats than last time. We will hold the key to Vidhan Sabha,” he said.

On being asked if they will enter into a tie-up with any party, Mr Chautala said there has been no discussion so far regarding alliance yet.

When he was asked about the AAP, Mr Chautala quipped, “The AAP already has an alliance with Congress (part of INDIA bloc)”.

Meanwhile, Pathak said Aam Aadmi Party workers will be going door-to-door and make people aware about Arvind Kejriwal’s “guarantees” and appeal to them to vote for change this time.

Aam Aadmi Party workers in Haryana will go door-to-door and make people aware about Arvind Kejriwal’s “guarantees” and appeal to them to vote for change this time, party senior leader Sandeep Pathak said on Thursday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

In a big jolt to Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) a month ahead of the assembly elections in Haryana, four of their 10 MLAs have quit the party.

MLAs Ishwar Singh, Ramkaran Kala and Devendra Babli resigned from the primary membership and all responsibilities of the party today while Anoop Dhanak had quit yesterday. They are likely headed to the BJP and Congress, the two major parties that had won five seats each in the Lok Sabha elections held in June.

The JJP, led by the former deputy chief minister, had earlier sought the disqualification of two other MLAs – Ramniwas Surjakhera and Jogi Ram Sihag – for anti-party activities. They had campaigned in favour of the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

Another MLA, Ramkumar Gauram from Narnaund, had been opposed to the party for some time.

This effectively means the party is left with just three loyalists in the state assembly, which includes Dushyant Chautala, his mother Naina Chautala, and Amarjit Dhanda.

Haryana is to set vote on October 1 to elect its 90-member assembly, the Election Commission announced yesterday. The votes will be counted on October 4.

Mr Dhanak, an MLA from Uklana in Hisar, was a minister in the BJP-JJP coalition government that fell with the resignation of ML Khattar earlier this year. He is likely to join the BJP.

Mr Babli, who represents Tohana in Fatehabad; Mr Singh, an MLA from Guhla Chikka in Kaithal district; and Mr Kala, who represents Shahbad in Kurukshetra, are likely to join the Congress.

While the sons of Mr Kala and Mr Singh had already joined the Congress, Mr Babli had campaigned for senior Haryana Congress leader Kumari Selja in the Lok Sabha elections.

New Delhi:

Dushyant Chautala — the prime mover behind the bid to pull down the Haryana government led by his former ally — the BJP, appears to have taken reports about his MLAs’ secret meeting with the BJP, with textbook equanimity. Switching parties is normal at election time, he told NDTV this evening. Asked about the possibility of an Operation Lotus by the BJP, which is in a tight corner after three Independent MLAs pulled support to the government, he said, “Then the people of Haryana will come to know”. Then, with a straight face, he added, “Who knows, even the BJP MLAs can switch sides”.

Sources have said that four of the nine MLAs from Mr Chautala’s JJP (Jannayak Janta Party) met the former BJP Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar this afternoon. AT the meeting, held in the Panipat house of state minister Mahipal Dhanda, the current political crisis was discussed.

The BJP had ended the alliance with Mr Chautala, a Deputy Chief Minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar government, in March, as it effected a change of guard in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha election. Nayab Singh Saini was brought in to replace Mr Khattar, and Mr Chautala, after a failed Lok Sabha seat sharing deal, was shown the door.

Earlier this week, after the Independents pulled off support to the government, Mr Chautala responded. He promptly declared that the government is now in minority and asked the Governor for a floor test. Appearing at a press conference with leaders of the Opposition Congress, he also said he was ready to provide the Grand Old Party with outside support should they wish to form a new government.

Today, asked about the JJP MLAs’ meeting with Mr Khattar, Mr Chautala told NDTV this is was “not the time to worry about who is meeting whom”. The fact remains that the government is in minority, he added.

While whip and expulsion were the standard means to deal with rebels, “this is the time of election,” he said. “People will switch parties. If someone has to switch parties we will come to know. Let it come out in public. Who knows, even the BJP MLAs can switch sides,” he said.

The Haryana Assembly, with 90 seats, currently has 88 members, which brings the majority mark down to 45. The BJP has 40 MLAs, including three Independent candidates, and is two short of majority. The Congress has 30 MLAs and three independent candidates supporting it. An undivided JJP would bring its numbers up to 43 MLAs.

This scenario leaves two MLAs unaligned-one from the Haryana Lokhit Party and the other from the INLD.

This evening, INLD MLA Abhay Singh Chautala wrote to the Governor, saying if an assembly session cannot be called, President’s Rule should immediately declared in the state.