Central leadership will decide on BJP-JJP pact in Haryana: CM

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, October 7

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said the issue of alliance between the BJP and the JJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections would be decided by the central high command and was not a remit of the state BJP.

Noting that the BJP and the JJP had never been traditional allies and had come together with the objective of keeping the Congress at bay in 2019, Khattar said: “There are two types of alliances — one an alliance between parties and one on the floor of the House to form the government. Our alliance (BJP-JJP) was never between parties because it was not a pre-poll alliance, but a post-poll alliance struck to stay in power and keep the Congress away.”

Khattar said as far as the next elections go, the central BJP would take the lead in discussing the alliance matter. “It is not a subject for the state BJP although churning has been going on,” said Khattar, speaking to some women journalists here today.

The CM also said there was still a lot of time to decide on this issue. “There is no urgency to make a decision today,” he said.

In important remarks, Khattar structured the BJP-JJP alliance as one born out of political exigencies. “We have allied with the Chautala family in the past also but with the objective of keeping the Congress at bay. Post-poll alliance has a compulsion of running the government. We allied with the JJP in 2019 because we were short of the magic mark and had to have a pact to retain power against the Congress. That was the reason behind this alliance,” the CM said.

Khattar rejected allegations of Chaudhary Birender Singh who, a few days ago, threatened to quit the BJP if the BJP-JJP alliance continued. Singh accused Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala of the JJP of indulging in corruption. “That is not true. We have never condoned any act of corruption, be it political or bureaucratic,” said Khattar in defence of his government adding that the BJP-JJP ran a good government ‘barring some aberrations’.

The BJP and the JJP have openly said in recent months that they will contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats. This was in contrast to Dushyant’s stand in December 2022 when he said contesting together was part of the BJP-JJP 2019 deal which Union Home Minister Amit Shah struck.

The Uchana Kalan Assembly seat in Jind, which Dushyant represents, has become a major bone of contention between the allies, with Birender Singh seeking it for wife Prem Lata, whom Dushyant had defeated in 2019 state elections. In the Hisar Lok Sabha seat earlier that year, Birender Singh’s son had defeated Dushyant.

Haryana election as scheduled

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar backed the one nation, one election proposal but said Haryana elections will happen next year as scheduled and not with the Lok Sabha poll, which will happen earlier.

‘Shaheedi Smaraks’ to come up in Hemu’s memory

• The Chief Minister on Saturday announced that ‘Shaheedi Smaraks’ would be built in the memory of Hemu, coronated in Delhi on October 7, 1556, in Panipat and Rewari districts
• “Under the Sant Mahapurush Samman and Vichar Prasar Yojana, these memorials will be constructed on four to five acres in both districts and inspire future generations with the saga of Hemchandra Vikramaditya’s courage,” said Khattar
• A commemorative postage stamp was also released by the CM and Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan

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