Chandigarh: Is the BJP pondering of dumping alliance associate Jannayak Janata Occasion (JJP) earlier than the Haryana election subsequent 12 months? That’s the query being raised after yet one more BJP chief Biplab Kumar Deb seemingly made an announcement Sunday indicating that not all is nicely within the ruling camp.
Addressing a ‘Karyakarta Sammelan’ (staff’ assembly) at Uchana Kalan Sunday, Deb urged get together staff to take revenge “for the tears” that former Union minister Chaudhary Birender Singh shed in 2019.
He was seemingly referring to the meeting polls that 12 months, when JJP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala defeated Birender Singh’s spouse Premlata in Jind’s Uchana Kalan by a margin of 47,452 votes.
“2014 (sic) mein Chaudhary Birender Singh ki ankh se pani nikla uska pratishodh 2024 mein lenge. (We’ll take revenge in 2024 for the tears shed by Chaudhary Birender Singh in 2014),” Deb informed the gathering Sunday, asking staff to take an oath that “agli Vidhayak to Uchana se meri didi hello banegi (The subsequent MLA from Uchana will likely be my sister)”, referring to Premlata.
Deb, the previous BJP chief minister of Tripura, additionally tweeted a video of his speech, which comes lower than a 12 months earlier than the 2024 parliamentary and the Haryana Meeting polls. The event is being seen as yet one more indication of a widening chasm between the 2 alliance companions.
जहां जहां कम्यूनिस्ट विचाराधारा जाएगी वहां नकारात्मक सोच पहुंचेगी। वहां सिर्फ धरना और प्रदर्शन की राजनीति शुरू हो जायेगी। दिल्ली में भी केजरीवाल जी ने यही किया है। उन्होंने आम आदमी पार्टी बनाई मगर उनकी सोच में कम्यूनिस्ट का भूत घुसा हुआ है। #9YearsOfSeva pic.twitter.com/lvR7f8iuKl
— Biplab Kumar Deb (@BjpBiplab) June 4, 2023
Deb’s phrases got here on a day when Chautala was additionally assembly individuals in Kaithal, Haryana. Talking to media individuals within the night, he stated: “Don’t harbour any misconceptions. I’ll contest from Uchana.”
Having contested the 2019 Meeting election individually, the BJP underneath Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had entered right into a post-poll alliance with the JJP underneath Chautala to retain energy within the state.
Whereas then BJP had received 40 seats within the 90-member Haryana Meeting, the JJP had received 10 seats.
ThePrint tried to achieve JJP chief Chautala by cellphone. This report will likely be up to date when he responds.
However JJP’s chief spokesman Deepkamal Saharan informed ThePrint that Deb was referring to 2014, not 2019, whereas speaking about “avenging” Birender Singh’s tears.
In line with Saharan, Deb was referring to the time when Birender Singh, a Jat chief after which a part of the Congress, was being thought-about to be a part of the Union Cupboard underneath then prime minister Manmohan Singh however was ultimately dropped.
It’s vital to notice that though Birender Singh was reportedly thought-about for a task within the Manmohan Singh Cupboard, it was in 2013 not 2014.
He ultimately joined the BJP in August 2014.
Additionally Learn: BJP switches to election mode in Haryana: Amit Shah rally, drive to clinch Chautala strongholds
Widening rift?
The previous couple of months have seen BJP drop a number of hints of a rift with its ally. In January, Union Dwelling Minister Amit Shah, whereas addressing a BJP rally in Gohana, stated the “lotus will bloom on all the ten seats in Haryana”.
The assertion, which was referring to Haryana’s parliamentary seats, was particularly shocking provided that it got here lower than a fortnight after Chautala introduced that his get together would contest each meeting and parliamentary elections in alliance with Shah’s BJP.
This was adopted by the same trace in March — this time by BJP state chief O.P. Dhankar. Addressing get together staff, Dhankar had then not solely reiterated Shah’s assertion by asking get together staff to work in the direction of that objective however had gone a step additional by claiming that even Chautala’s supporters wished him to be rid of the prefix “deputy” from his present title ‘deputy chief minister’.
On its half, the JJP has been cautious in reacting to the BJP’s statements. At a press convention in April, Chautala, in response to a query about the way forward for the BJP-JJP alliance, stated: “I’m not an astrologer”.
“I can’t say what’s going to occur sooner or later,” he stated, including that “as of right this moment, we now have an alliance with the BJP and it’s working nicely”, and that “the state has progressed nicely in the course of the BJP-JJP regime”.
Nevertheless, on the identical time, he additionally informed ThePrint that his get together was making ready to contest all 10 parliamentary seats.
“So far as the following 12 months’s elections are involved, we’re making ready for all the ten Lok Sabha seats. Each get together aspires to extend its variety of seats within the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, and with that in thoughts, we are attempting to strengthen our base in all of the seats,” he had stated then.
Referring to Deb’s remarks, JJP spokesperson Saharan informed ThePrint its standard for a celebration chief to inspire staff once they go to attend a celebration assembly.
“As far Uchana is worried, its voters selected Dushyant Chautala as their MLA in 2019 giving him a victory of 48,000 votes over Premlata of BJP. Since then, the deputy CM has not solely adopted Uchana as his karmbhoomi and political residence, however has additionally initiated dozens of improvement works in varied villages,” he stated.
Birender Singh’s household are “determined to regain Uchana by enjoying some emotional card”, he stated.
“Yesterday (Sunday), Premlata stated she didn’t go to Uchana for 3.5 years after shedding in 2019 whereas Birender Singh stated he’ll depart politics if he fails to do a rally of 1 lakh individuals. Premlata known as Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala as ‘Dusht’ or an evil individual. Brijender Singh stated JJP is sort of a nasal chilly thrown on floor (sic). Such private and determined statements by a household in entrance of one another present how hopeless they’re and sadly JJP of Dushyant Chautala has no treatment for them,” he stated.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Additionally Learn: Lacking Chautalas in ballot posters, ‘poaching’: Indicators of bother in Haryana’s BJP-JJP alliance