JJP-AAP, LSP-BSP POTENTIAL VOTE SPOILERS

JJP-AAP ALLIANCE

The Jannayak Janata Party (JPP) was floated in December last year after INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala expelled his elder son and former MP Ajay Chautala and both his (Ajay’s) sons Dushyant and Digvijay. This caused a vertical split in INLD with Ajay along with his sons floating JJP. On April 12, the JJP forged an alliance with the AAP. The AAP has been active in Haryana since 2014, when it fought all the 10 Lok Sabha seats, though all its candidates lost their deposits.

DUSHYANT CHAUTALA, 31

JJP LEADER AND HISAR MP

The US-educated Dushyant Chautala, who became the youngest MP in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, is seen as a thorn in the flesh of his jailed grandfather Om Prakash Chautala as Dushyant is perceived to be behind the split in the INLD. In his first election as INLD candidate, Dushyant defeated erstwhile Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi. He heads JJP while his father and former MP Ajay Chautala is in jail. In the recent Jind bypoll, his younger brother Digvijay finished second, pushing the INLD to the poor fifth position and trouncing Congress’ national spokesman Randeep Surjewala. Besides retaining his father’s followers, he has mustered support of students and youth as well.

NAVEEN JAIHIND, 38 AAP STATE PRESIDENT

Formerly a student leader, Naveen Jaihind, a native of Rohtak, is chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Haryana. He is considered to be a close confidant of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who too hails from Haryana. Apart from Delhi and Punjab, AAP is also focusing on Haryana. Jaihind worked with Kejriwal in Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement and was made convener of party’s Haryana unit in 2016. He was also party candidate from Rohtak in 2014 general elections and had finished fourth. All the candidates of AAP, including Naveen, fared poorly and lost their deposits.