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.

Chandigarh:

Outgoing Haryana BJP president OP Dhankar said on Friday that no decision has been taken yet on fighting next year’s elections together with current ally JJP, as both parties have remained non-committal on contesting elections jointly.

“When any decision is taken, you will be informed,” Mr Dhankar told reporters.

On being asked how many seats the BJP expects to win in the 2024 Assembly polls, he said, “We will form the government with full majority. When elections draw near, we will inform you about the number of seats too,” he said.

Mr Dhankar was interacting with reporters in Chandigarh shortly before the party high command appointed him the national secretary and brought in Nayab Singh Saini as the state unit chief.

Mr Dhankar was appointed Haryana BJP chief in July 2020 and completed his tenure in July this year.

The Ajay Singh Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) had extended support to the BJP in 2019 after it fell short of a majority in the Assembly polls.

However, in recent months, both the JJP and the BJP have said they are preparing to contest all the 10 Lok Sabha and 90 Assembly seats and have remained non-committal on fighting the elections jointly.

The BJP on Friday appointed Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra Nayab Singh Saini, belonging to other backward classes (OBCs), the state unit president in place of Mr Dhankar as the party prepares for the Lok Sabha elections next year to be followed by the Assembly polls.

Replying to another question that the JJP has also entered fray in neighbouring Rajasthan and was contesting the Assembly elections there on a few seats, Dhankar said every party has a right to expand.

When asked if the party has conducted any internal survey for the next year’s Assembly elections, Dhankar said surveys these days keep taking place both at the organisation and the government level.

However, he said the outcome of these surveys are not made public.

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