The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Azad Samaj Party-Kanshi Ram (ASP-KR) on Tuesday have joined hands to contest coming Haryana Assembly elections in alliance under the agreement that Dushyant Chautala’s JJP will contest 70 seats while the remaining 20 will go to Chandra Shekhar Azad’s ASP-KR. Dushyant, former Deputy CM of Haryana has dubbed the alliance a replay of 1998 when the then INLD supremo and his great-grandfather Devi Lal, became the first leader to support BSP founder Kanshiram’s Delhi Boat Club agitation calling for Bharat Ratna for BR Ambedkar. When asked about the possibility of an alliance of his party JJP’s with the  BJP, Dushyant straightway ruled it out. Azad, a first-time MP from Nagina in UP and also chief of ‘Bhim Army’, also dismissed the idea of joining hands with the BJPsaying his party , accusing the party of harming the interests of workers and farmers and said “We will never ally with the BJP again, since we have suffered a lot after having an alliance with the BJP in past and now fully understand how they treat their partners”.

Dushyant said, he is hopeful about the JJP-ASP-KR alliance winning enough seats to form the government independently since there are nearly 21% Dalit voters in Haryana capable to change the scenario of victory of a party in Haryana state and there are as many as 17 seats reserved for them including Mulana, Sadhoura,, Shahabad, Gulha-Chika, NIlokheri, Israna, Kharkhoda, Narwana, Kalanwali, Ratia, Uklana, Bawanikhera, Jhajjar, Kalanaur, Bawel, Patoudi and Hodal in Haryana state. Dushyant said this might encourage smaller political parties in other states to take on the BJP and the Congress on their own. At the same, we cannot deny the way the newly taken birth JJP party in Haryana launched by Dushyant Chautala was able to win 10 seats in the first attempt during 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls and became  ‘kingmakers’ in forming BJP-JJP alliance government in the state.

Both leaders also hinted at playing kingmakers if the coming elections in the state resulted in a hung Assembly. Dushyant made it clear his party wouldn’t support the BJP even if it faced a repeat of 2019. Information reveals, during 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls Dushyant’s JJP was able to get good support of ‘Jaat’ and ‘Dalit’ voters and was able to win seats during the first attempt. However, JJP contestants could not exhibit well during the 2024 Lok Sabha election and all their candidates failed to save their securities. Political analysts suggest the JJP’s alliance with the ASP-KR aims to dent the voter base of the Congress among both Jats and Dalits. Undoubtedly, the present assembly election is considered as a survival battle for the JJP. Moreover, the INLD led by Dushyant’s grandfather Om Prakash Chautala has also teamed up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the comingHaryana elections. The analysts also believe that the fight among several parties for Jat and Dalit votes in the state may benefit the BJP, feeling the BJP has been struggling to gain a foothold among the influential Jat community as well as the ‘Dalit’ voters too.