Former JJP leaders Dhanak, Gautam, Sihag join BJP

Ahead of Haryana Assembly election, former Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leaders — Anoop Dhanak, Ram Kumar Gautam, and Jogi Ram Sihag — who quit the party recently, joined the BJP on Sunday.

Along with them, Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma was also welcomed into the BJP fold by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, BJP’s state unit president Mohan Lal Badoli, and its Haryana affairs co-in-charge Biplab Kumar Deb at a rally in Jind. Sharma is the wife of Haryana Janchetna Party chief and former Union Minister Venod Sharma. Her son and Independent Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma was also present on the occasion.

Dhanak, Gautam and Sihag were JJP MLAs when they abandoned the party. Gautam, who was with the BJP earlier, represented the Narnaund segment in Haryana Assembly after winning the seat on a JJP ticket in 2019. He, however, did not get a ministerial berth in the BJP-JJP coalition government and was also a vocal critic of former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on various issues.

Addressing the gathering, Gautam said that the BJP will return to power in Haryana for a third consecutive term, adding, “Nayab Saini will again become Chief Minister…200 per cent.”

Dhanak, a former Minister, was an MLA from Uklana; while Sihag represented the Barwala segment in the Assembly.

Recently, Sihag, Gautam, Dhanak, and Ram Niwas Surjakhera extended support to BJP leader Kiran Choudhry’s candidature for the Rajya Sabha bypoll in Haryana. Kiran was elected unopposed to the Upper House of the Parliament.

Notably, Surjakhera was also expected to join the BJP at the Jind rally but was not seen at the event. A few days ago, he was booked on the charge of rape by the Jind police based on a woman's accusations against him. Surjakhera has dismissed the allegation as "conspiracies" against him ahead of the Assembly polls.

Addressing the rally, Chief Minister Saini said that the joining of these leaders has come as a boost for the BJP. Taking a dig at the Congress over its ‘Haryana Maange Hisab’ campaign, he accused the opposition party of spreading lies. Referring to Congress leaders’ remarks a week ago that the saffron party has accepted defeat by seeking deferment of the polls, Saini said: “(Bhupinder Singh) Hooda sahab! This is BJP! I want to tell Congress leaders that the BJP is not scared, we are always ready to face polls at any time.”