Dushyant Chautala won 10 seats in the recently concluded Haryana elections.
Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) chief Dushyant Chautala's decision to join hands with the BJP in Haryana has sparked criticism from various quarters, with many pointing out that his campaign for the state assembly elections had hinged on pointing out faults with the ruling party.
A few months ago, he had even tweeted out a video criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Tell me, Modiji, have you forgotten about the riots that erupted in Gujarat when you were its Chief Minister? Were you able to get them justice? While you were the Prime Minister, there was unrest in Haryana. Did you ever turn to look at them. When your government used guns on Dera supporters at Panchkula, why did you remain silent? When you tried to tarnish the image of our state in Murthal, did you come and try to understand that situation even once?" he is heard saying in the clip.
Dushyant Chautala was referring to the 2002 Gujarat riots; the Jat reservation agitation in 2016 that left Haryana paralysed for nearly 10 days; and the death of at least 32 people in police firing following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in 2017, among other issues.
The politician had joined hands with the BJP after the assembly polls came up with a fractured verdict, awarding 31 seats to the Congress, 40 to the BJP and 10 to the JJP. He is slated to be appointed as Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's deputy, and will be sworn in on Sunday.
The Congress launched a scathing attack on Dushyant Chautala soon afterwards, saying that the party was and will always be the BJP's "B-team". "When the BJP wants to gain power by dividing society, somebody will always volunteer to be its puppet -- whether its a Raj Kumar Saini or the JJP-Lok Dal," party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, adding that the people now know his "real" face.
Former Border Security Force jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav also resigned from the JJP soon after the party's tie-up with the BJP came to light. "Dushyant Chautala has betrayed the people of Haryana and those who voted for him by supporting the BJP to form the government. The people who gave the JJP 10 seats did so not because of him or the JJP name, but because of the ideals of Devi Lal," he was heard saying in a strongly worded Facebook post.
Dushyant Chautala is the great-grandson of Devi Lal, a two-time Haryana Chief Minister.