The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) hopes to unlock its chances at the assembly with the key (its election symbol) in Rajasthan like Haryana. JJP’s National President Dr Ajay Singh Chautala, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and the party’s Principal General Secretary, Digvijay Chautala, have been making visits to Rajasthan recently.
Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala addressed a public meeting at Suratgarh in Bharatpur, Rajasthan on Monday and made mentions of his party’s vision and election manifesto for the state. Several JJP party workers in attendance wore green and yellow patkas or Rajasthani turbans while Dushyant himself sported a saffron-coloured turban.
Digvijay Chautala has meanwhile been engaged in efforts to make inroads among the youth and students. The Chautalas have been making every effort to cash in on the late Chaudhary Devilal’s political influence in the state. Ajay Singh Chautala also wields personal influence in many districts of Rajasthan.
Although the JJP is in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana and jointly run the state government, the two parties are not yet clear on the electoral alliance. However, there have been rumblings that the JJP would prefer to contest the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in both Rajasthan and Haryana together with the BJP. Dushyant Chautala’s full focus at this time is the youth, students and farmers. At the same time, he strongly attacked those involved in illegal mining. Lashing out at the Congress government in the state, Dushyant said that the mining mafia and criminals are protected by Ashok Gehlot’s administration.
Remembering his great-grandfather, late Chaudhary Devilal, Dushyant said that Devilal had always been vocal about the rights of farmers. “[Chaudhary Devilal] encouraged innocent farmers to ‘get up, know yourselves and learn to speak up.’ JJP will now raise the voice of the farmers in the Assembly.”
During the meeting in Suratgarh, Dushyant also claimed that the people of Rajasthan have the same love and enthusiasm for the JJP today as they had towards Chaudhary Devilal in the 1989 elections. The Deputy Chief Minister also made several election promises to the people of Rajasthan. He said that similar to Haryana, the JJP will instate a 75 percent reservation in jobs for Rajasthani youth in private factories and a 50 percent share in Panchayati Raj institutions will be allocated for women. He further mentioned that the Haryana state government had given farmers in the state a compensation amount after they bore extensive crop damage due to incessant rainfall in the state. The government, he added, also provided compensation for damaged vegetables and produce as well as an old age pension amounting to Rs 2,750 and provided the meeting with detailed information about several other schemes. The Deputy Chief Minister promised that if the JJP were to come to power in Rajasthan next year, all such schemes would be implemented in the state as well. Dushyant also exhorted party workers to induct women as “booth-sakhis”. At the same time, Dushyant’s mother, MLA Naina Chautala has also been organising Hari Chunri Chaupals across the state of Haryana and has given the slogan, “Where there is a temple, there is a library”.
