After emerging as the “kingmaker” in Haryana in the 2019 Assembly polls, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) chief and Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala is now expanding the party in neighbouring Rajasthan in the hope of gaining a bargaining hand in the poll-bound state. From Wednesday to Saturday, Dushyant was on a tour of various Assembly constituencies in Rajasthan. He opened JJP offices in several districts intending to expand his party's cadre base. The elections to the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly are expected to be held in November or December. At present, the Congress led by Ashok Gehlot has 107 MLAs while the BJP and others hold the remaining 93 seats. Repeating the same poll promises on which his party contested the Haryana elections — 75% reservation in jobs, curbing the rising unemployment rate, swift compensation for crop damage, 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions, better crop purchase process, payments to farmers, and a better mandi system — Dushyant is campaigning with a specific focus on the youth and rural vote banks. The Haryana Deputy CM’s great grandfather, Chaudhary Devi Lal, who served as the sixth deputy prime minister of India, was elected simultaneously from the Sikar Lok Sabha constituency of Rajasthan and the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency of Haryana in 1989. Devi Lal's ancestors had their roots in Rajasthan's Bikaner before the family settled in Sirsa district in Haryana in the early 1900s. The JJP hasn't yet decided if it will fight the Rajasthan Assembly polls in alliance with the BJP or go solo. The target for both parties, however, remains the same: ousting the Congress from power. In Bikaner, Dushyant announced that his party would celebrate Devi Lal's birth anniversary in the state. Dushyant's father Ajay Chautala and other JJP leaders, including the Deputy CM’s younger brother Digvijay Chautala and Haryana Minister of State Anoop Dhanak, have been actively campaigning in several constituencies. “I visited Jhunjhunu, Jaipur, Sikar, Nagaur and Bikaner in the last few days and I am overwhelmed by the response I got here in Rajasthan. The people of Rajasthan are fed up with the Congress that has looted and destroyed the state — be it with drugs, deteriorating law and order, mining mafia, or paper-leak mafia — and are desperately seeking change. That is the reason they connecting with the JJP. Our party's slogan is also Chaabi ka nishan hoga, mukhyamantri kisan hoga (The JJP’s key symbol will win, and the chief minister will be a farmer). That is why lots of people are joining hands with us. Together, we will ensure that the JJP will open the lock of Rajasthan Assembly,” Dushyant said. The JJP is looking to contest at least 25-30 seats in Rajasthan. Talking about the possibilities of a seat-sharing arrangement or alliance with the BJP, Dushyant said, “Discussions are on (with the BJP). But, as of now, we are focusing on strengthening our party in at least 25-30 seats. One thing I am noticing is that the youth are connecting and joining hands with the JJP in large numbers and that is going to be one of our major strengths.” The JJP is already in the process of appointing its party's district presidents in Rajasthan. So far, it has identified 18 districts on which it is specifically focusing. “For a four-year-old party, if we can strengthen our cadre in at least these 25-30 seats now, in the coming times we shall be able to spread across Rajasthan,” Dushyant said. After the campaign concluded on Saturday, the JJP held its national and state executive committee meetings in Hisar, which is across the border from Rajasthan, on Sunday. The party's national convenor Ajay Chautala chaired the meeting that was attended by Dushyant, the party’s Haryana president Nishan Singh, Digvijay, and JJP ministers, MLAs, office-bearers, district presidents and senior party workers. The main agenda of the meeting was the party’s strategy for the Lok Sabha elections and the state elections in Rajasthan and Haryana. Chautala then held a meeting on preparations for the party’s September 25 rally.
