Even as the BJP-JJP alliance for running the state government broke down, apparently due to failure of seat sharing talks for the Lok Sabha polls, former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala did not show any bitterness towards his alliance partner for over four years. After the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister of Haryana, JJP leader Chautala expressed gratitude to the people for their trust and support in his party.

Chautala thanked the people of the state for giving him the opportunity to serve the state as deputy chief minister of Haryana. “I consider it my good fortune and express my gratitude to every person of Haryana from the bottom of my heart. Your support and cooperation for the welfare of Haryana and public works has always been energizing for me,” he said in a statement.

He said with limited time and limited numbers, they have worked day and night to protect the interests of Haryana. They have got the work of every section and every area of Haryana done by the government, the former deputy chief minister further said. “I will always be grateful to you for the constant trust you have shown in us and the support you have always given us during our times of difficulty and struggle.

“I assure you that following the footsteps of Jannayak Chaudhary Devi Lal ji, I will always be dedicated to protecting the interests of Haryana and the people of Haryana. Our efforts for social and economic security of the people of Haryana will continue,” he said.

The BJP leaders had earlier maintained that the post-poll alliance with JJP was only for running the government and not for contesting polls as the saffron outfit had said ‘lotus’ (BJP poll symbol) will bloom on all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Sources said the JJP was asking for two seats to contest the LS polls in alliance with the BJP but the saffron outfit outright refused to leave any seat.

In the newly-inducted Saini cabinet which took oath on Tuesday, BJP retained four of its ministers and one independent MLA from the previous cabinet. However, all three from the JJP — Dushyant Chautala, Anoop Dhanak and Devender Singh Babli — were not reinducted.

Asked about the fate of the alliance, JJP’s Haryana unit chief Nishan Singh said, “A meeting of the party was held under the chairmanship of Dushyant Chautala’s father, Dr Ajay Singh Chautala. All issues were discussed in the meeting.” He said it was decided that Ajay Chautala’s birthday on Wednesday will be observed by holding Nav Sankalp rally in Hisar. Whatever the party will decide will be informed in the rally, he added.

Nishan Singh, meanwhile, congratulated Saini who took oath as new CM. Notably, with both the BJP and the JJP remaining non-committal over jointly contesting the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, the BJP leaders had earlier maintained that the post-poll alliance with JJP was meant only for running the government.


BJP has accepted defeat by changing CM: Hooda

Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said BJP and JJP had accepted defeat even before the elections, by breaking the alliance and changing the chief minister. He alleged that there is an agreement between the two parties and an alliance has been broken to divide anti-government votes.

“It is clear from this decision that a failed coalition government was running in the state, which had completely disillusioned the people. Therefore, the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister had to be changed just before the elections. By doing this BJP is trying to divert attention from the failures of nine and a half years. The BJP has no moral right to remain in power in the state. Assembly elections should be conducted by immediately imposing the President's rule in the state,” Hooda said.

INLD leader Abhay Chautala said, "By changing the CM, BJP has admitted that they were ruining the state. People had defeated BJP in 2019 itself, it formed the government with the help of traitors. That thugbandhan looted, committed corruption for 4 and a half years and created a drama as soon as the elections came. This means you are admitting that you are losing the election badly.``