Chandigarh: With upcoming Rajasthan assembly polls in mind, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala has decided to celebrate former deputy prime minister Devi Lal’s birth anniversary in Sikar in Rajasthan on September 25.
Late Devi Lal was Dushyant Chautala’s great-grandfather. Dushyant’s father Ajay Chautala is the elder son of former Haryana chief minister and a tall Jat leader Om Prakash Chautala who is former deputy prime minister Devi Lal’s son.
It may be recalled that JJP was formed in December 2018, after the five-time chief minister Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) suffered a crippling split when he expelled his elder son Ajay and both grandsons, Dushyant and Digvijay from INLD for anti-party activities earlier that year. They subsequently floated JJP which won 10 seats in the 2019 assembly polls, and Dushyant is deputy chief minister while the INLD was reduced to just one seat.
First election for JJP outside Haryana
It would be the first time that JJP would contest any election outside Haryana, though the INLD had also contested some Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in 2004 but could not win any seat.
Sikar has a sizable Jat vote bank. It was the Sikar Lok Sabha seat which was represented by Devi Lal in 1989 when he was deputy prime minister. Not only this, Dushyant’s father Ajay Chautala, who is the national president of the JJP had also been an MLA twice, once from Data Ramgarh (district Sikar) and second time from Nohar (district Hanumangarh).
Notably, several top leaders including two former legislators have recently joined JJP.
Meanwhile, the INLD has also announced to celebrate Devi Lal’s birth anniversary at Kaithal in Haryana on September 25 which is also likely to be attended by some leaders from across the country like in the past.
