Finding common ground? Politicians switching parties in Haryana before Assembly elections on upswing

Chandigarh: With Assembly elections around the corner, politicians hopping from one party to another and grabbing the best deal is becoming a common feature in Haryana.

Recently, prominent politicians of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) like former Panchayat Minister and Tohana MLA Devendra Babli switched loyalties from the JJP and joined BJP. Similarly, three JJP MLAs joined BJP in Jind, including Anoop Dhanak, who was a big asset to the JJP leadership, and a state minister for more than four years in the BJP-JJP coalition government.

It has probably become a trend for regional parties of Haryana to get such jolts during Assembly elections.

In the last Assembly elections in 2019 there was a split in the main opposition party – many INLD MLAs joined the BJP. Now, JJP, which came into existence by separating from INLD, is facing a similar situation.

Apart from a large number of party officials, seven out of 10 MLAs have left the JJP. On Monday, the seventh MLA of JJP and former development and Panchayat Minister Devendra Singh Babli also officially joined the BJP. Now, the JJP is left with former Deputy CM Dushyant Singh Chautala, Badhra MLA Naina Singh Chautala and Julana MLA Amarjit Singh Dhanda.

Also, Sunil Sangwan, who entered politics after taking VRS from the post of jail superintendent of Bhondsi (Gurugram), also joined the BJP.

Former CM of Tripura and election co-in-charge of Haryana Biplab Kumar Dev and state president Mohan Lal Baroli were present when Devendra Babli and Sunil were inducted into the BJP’s ranks at its headquarters in New Delhi.

Along with this, Sanjay Kablana, who contested from Badli constituency on a JJP ticket in 2019, also joined the BJP. It is likely that he relied on his relations with former Agriculture Minister and BJP national secretary Om Prakash Dhankhar for the move. Babli, who was the Development and Panchayat Minister in the BJP-JJP coalition, has been considered close to Union Power and Urban Development Minister Manohar Lal Khattar since the beginning. Biplab and Baroli welcomed Babli, Sunil and Kablana into the party.

Along with joining the BJP, these leaders have been asked to form a front on the ground for the Assembly elections. Before joining the BJP, Sunil also met Khattar and many other central leaders in New Delhi. However, it is understood that he wanted to join Congress. He even met Congress’s Haryana affairs in-charge Deepak Babaria and former Union Minister and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja.