Chandigarh: Former Jannayak Janta Party leaders Anoop Dhanak, Ram Kumar Gautam and Jogi Ram Sihag, who quit the party recently, joined the BJP on Sunday giving the ruling party in Haryana a boost ahead of the October 5 Assembly poll.
The three leaders along with Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma were welcomed into the BJP fold by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the party's state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli and its Haryana affairs co-incharge 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 at the Jind event.
Dhanak, Gautam and Sihag were Jannayak Janta Party (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 Jannayak Janta Party (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 rally, Gautam said the BJP will return to power in Haryana for a third consecutive term, adding, "Nayab Saini will again become chief minister, 200 per cent". Anoop Dhanak, a former minister, was an MLA from Uklana while Jogi Ram Sihag represented the Barwala segment in the Assembly.
Recently, Jogi Ram Sihag, Ram Niwas Surjakhera, Ram Kumar Gautam and Anoop Dhanak 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 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 Jind rally, Chief Minister Saini said 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." Notably, the ruling BJP and the opposition INLD in Haryana had urged the Election Commission to revise the polling date, keeping in mind the long weekend which might result in poor voter turnout as people tend to go out on extended weekends.
State BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli, in a recent letter to the poll panel, had also said that on 'Asoj Amavasya' on October 2, several members of the Bishnoi community of Haryana will leave for Rajasthan to participate in an annual fair held on the occasion. This too can affect the voting percentage, he had said.
The Election Commission on Saturday deferred the Haryana assembly poll date from October 1 to October 5, saying the decision was taken keeping in mind the Bishnoi community's festival. Saini thanked the Election Commission for the decision. Attacking the Congress, he said, "They have been seeking an account (of work done) from us. I posed some questions to the Congress, but they have not given any reply yet."
"We undertook (projects for) equitable development. Jobs have been given on merit." Saini said that after he took oath as chief minister in March and just three days later the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha polls came into effect.
The BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with its then state unit president Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister in March, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Khattar got elected to the Lok Sabha from Karnal and was made a Union minister while Saini won the Karnal Assembly bypoll that was held along with the general elections.
Saini said that after the Lok Sabha poll process ended, from that date till the announcement of the Haryana polls on August 16, he barely got around two months. Even in that short period, the state government took several decisions for the welfare of various sections, including farmers, youth, employees and the poor, he said. Saini said Congress neither has no policy, intent, or leadership.
"Those who are seeking an account (an account of work done) from us, I want to tell them that we have taken several decisions for the welfare of various sections.. they should also tell what they did when they were in power," he said at the Jind rally. "But the Congress does not have answers to the questions we asked. The people of Haryana will give them a befitting reply on October 5 by bringing the BJP back to power," Saini said.
The Congress has been targeting the ruling party over several issues concerning farmers as well as on issues of unemployment, law and order and others. The BJP is aiming for a hattrick in the Haryana Assembly polls to be held on October 5 but faces a tough challenge from a resurgent Congress which is looking to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.
