In Haryana, Dushyant Chautala seat hits a flashpoint as tension rises between BJP, JJP

Chautalas and Singhs have been at loggerheads for long, with Uchana Kalan being one of their battlegrounds. Birender has represented the seat five times since 1977. Chautala patriarch Om Prakash Chautala won it in 2009.

Addressing a gathering in Uchana on June 4, BJP Haryana in-charge and former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb said the people “need to take revenge of the tears shed by Birender Singh [referring to the 2019 Assembly polls],” adding that Prem Lata should represent the seat next. In a possible hint that the BJP might not be dependent on the JJP going forward, Deb added that several Independent MLAs from Haryana were “in constant touch with the BJP”.

A day later, Dushyant, also addressing a gathering in Uchana, said, “It appears that three people (in a possible reference to Birender, Prem Lata and Deb) have stomach ache because of my victory from Uchana, but I do not have any cure for that. I would contest from Uchana because people of this constituency have given me immense love ensuring that I won by a margin of over 48,000 votes.”

उचाना हलके के बिघाना गांव में प्रिय गांव वासियों से मुलाकात कर भरोसा दिया कि –
-गांव में स्थित भगवान परशुराम मंदिर में लंगर हॉल बनाया जायेगा।
-पंचायत द्वारा जगह देते ही व्यायामशाला तथा कम्युनिटी सेंटर का निर्माण कार्य शुरु करवाया जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/00akYHeiKT

— Dushyant Chautala (@Dchautala) June 4, 2023

Deb kept up the heat. In Faridabad on Tuesday, he said: “They [JJP] did not do us [BJP] a favour by forging an alliance in 2019. In return, several of their MLAs got ministerial berths.”

Reacting to Deb’s remarks, the JJP’s state president Nishan Singh said, “Alliance or no alliance, Dushyant will contest from Uchana Kalan only”.

The same day Dushyant’s father Ajay Chautala, the JJP’s national convener, said, “Uchana was a seat Dushyant won by a margin of over 48,000 votes; how can they [BJP] stake claim on such a seat. I just don’t understand it.”

BJP Faridabad MP Krishan Pal Gurjar joined in Wednesday, saying that “everyone” wanted to “strengthen” themselves. “Dushyant won from Uchana last time. Prem Lata had won the previous time. Both the families are political families and big families. The ground is not vacant for anybody. Everybody will use their might. Whoever the people want shall win,” he said.

कल सखी सहेली मिलन कार्यक्रम के तहत मेरे विधानसभा क्षेत्र उचाना कलाँ के गाँव खाँड़ा, गोइयाँ, जीवनपुर, शाहपुर में जन संपर्क किया। pic.twitter.com/mdG3sI8n48

— Premlata Singh (@PremlataUchana) May 21, 2023

The rift between the coalition partners first surfaced at the time of the farmers’ agitation against the three central farm legislation, with the JJP MLAs pressuring Dushyant to break away from the BJP.

But Dushyant carried on as a key partner of the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government, claiming that although the party was in “complete support of the farmers”, it would be in a better position “being part of the government” to “raise their [farmers’] concerns at the highest level”.

In the current wrestlers’ protest too, Dushyant demanded “strictest possible action against whoever was found guilty”. While talking to The Indian Express, Dushyant also said that “Delhi police needs to expedite its investigation and justice be given to the protesting wrestlers”.

While talking to the media on the issue last month, Ajay had hinted that allies were not going to have the same position on every issue. “Hum sarkaar ke sehyogi hain, BJP ke nahi (We are associates of the government, not BJP).”

On Wednesday, JJP MLA and Haryana sugar cooperative chairman Ramkaran Kala condemned Tuesday’s lathicharge in Kurukshetra on farmers demanding MSP on sunflower and threatened that he would resign if the arrested farmers were not released within 24 hours.

Clearly, the statements coming out from both the BJP and the JJP camps lately indicate that all is not well within their alliance.

Both the parties had contested the 2019 Assembly polls separately. The BJP won 40 seats, falling short of a majority in the 90-member Assembly. The party then formed the government with the JJP, which had won 10 seats.

Currently, there are 30 Congress MLAs, seven Independent legislators, and one MLA each from the Haryana Lokhit Party and the Indian National Lok Dal.