NOW, BJP’S HARYANA ALLY JANNAYAK JANTA PARTY OPTS OUT OF DELHI ELECTIONS
Says will support the saffron party candidates in Capital
CHANDIGARH: A day after the Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP’S another alliance partner, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Haaryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, on Tuesday announced not to contest the assembly elections in Delhi, citing party symbol issue.
Dushyant told mediapersons here that his party would not field candidates as “symbol is a very important issue and the JJP is unwilling to fight on a new symbol at such a short notice.”
“For the Delhi Assembly elections, we had requested the Election Commission to give election symbol of ‘key’ or ‘slippers’, which were given to another party. In such a situation, JJP has decided not to contest the Delhi assembly elections,” Dushyant said.
He said fighting polls on any other symbol would have adversely impacted the party’s image.
He said the JJP would support BJP candidates in the Delhi elections.
Dushyant’s announcement comes a day after BJP’S another ally — the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — said they will stay off from the Delhi polls.
Asked how could the JJP support the BJP in the Delhi polls as it had alliance with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha elections earlier last year, Dushyant said that he lauded a few works such as improvement in schools and hospitals carried out by AAP, but there were many things which went against AAP like hardships faced by people living in outer Delhi areas, which were without basic amenities like power and water supply.
“We have also to fight the forces which are misleading the people on Citizens Amendment Act, thus weakening the Constitution,” he added.
BACKS KHATTAR OVER CID ROW
Regarding the ongoing tussle over the control of CID between chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and home minister Anil Vij, he said that the CM had powers to reallocate any department to himself. “However, I also do not believe that any officer can dare say no to supply any information to the minister concerned,”
Dushyant said.
‘INLD SHOULD WORRY ABOUT ITSELF’
On INLD leader Abhay Chautala’s statement that he saw JJP’S merger in the BJP in furure, the deputy CM said the INLD should worry about itself instead of speaking about JJP.
“The INLD leader should see how INLD had come to just one MLA from 19 in 2014 and how JJP has won 10 seats in its very first assembly elections,’’ he said.