JJP adopts wait-&-watch policy to name Lok Sabha candidates

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, April 3

BJP’s former ally—the JJP—is adopting a wait-and-watch policy in deciding the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.

Though the party has declared former MLA Rao Bahadur Singh, who joined the party recently, as candidate from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh parliamentary constituency, the party is taking its time to name candidates from the other nine seats.

Working on caste combinations

• JJP considering various criteria, including caste combinations, to zero in on candidates
• Party had already declared Rao Bahadur as Mahendragarh-Bhiwani nominee
• Hisar seems to be the best bet for JJP; a member of Ajay Chautala family may get nomination
• With poll on May 25, the party has enough time to pick ‘suitable’ candidates

Party sources said since the election in Haryana was in the sixth phase on May 25, the party had enough time to pick the candidates. “The party is considering various criteria, including caste combinations, to shortlist candidates,” a senior leader said.

The sources said the party was waiting for the Congress and the INLD to name its candidates as their lists would help the JJP to find “suitable and winnable” candidates. The BJP is the only party which has named all its 10 candidates in Haryana.

With four-cornered contests likely on all seats, the JJP leadership felt that it had good chances of victory on a couple of seats and the party would be the “deciding factor” in other eight seats.

The Hisar Lok Sabha constituency seems to be the best bet for the JJP as former Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala was the youngest MP from this segment from 2014 to 2019. However, at that time, he was elected from the INLD, the parent party of the JJP. It is believed that the party may nominate one of the family members of Ajay Chautala, its founding president, from this crucial seat.

The JJP had reportedly sought Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seats from the BJP as part of the seat-sharing formula during the BJP-JJP alliance. However, the alliance ended after the BJP refused to give any seat to the JJP and announced candidates on all 10 seats.

Though the JJP, which contested in alliance with the AAP, failed to win any seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, it emerged as the “kingmaker” post-2019 Assembly elections, winning 10 seats.

With the BJP failing to get majority, as it won 40 of 90 seats in the 2019 Assembly poll, the JJP cobbled together an alliance with the BJP to form the government. The alliance lasted for over four years before breaking in March.