Haryana Elections Set To Witness Five-Cornered Contest As JJP Announces Alliance With Chandra Shekhar Azad's Party

In a joint press conference with Chandra Shekhar Azad, Dushyant Chautala announced an alliance between his Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Chandra Shekhar's Azad Samaj Party (ASP) for the Haryana assembly elections.

Chautala was the Deputy Chief Minister (CM) of Haryana when JJP formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the 2019 assembly elections when BJP fell short of a majority.

However, that alliance fell apart earlier this year when Nayab Saini was appointed as the CM of Haryana replacing Manohar Lal Khattar. Since then, many JJP MLAs have left the party and joined the BJP or Congress.

In the upcoming assembly elections, scheduled for 1 October, JJP will contest 70 seats, while ASP will contest 20 seats. This sets the stage for a five-cornered fight in the state.

Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are contesting on their own, while Abhay Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has formed an alliance with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Chandra Shekhar claimed that Bhim Army workers have been working in Haryana for last seven to eight years. The party will field candidates only on those 20 seats where it is prepared well, he added.

The JJP contested 87 seats in its maiden assembly election in 2019 but could win only 10. However, it now has only three MLAs intact with the party while others have left to join bigger parties.