JJP's Dushyant Chautala: ‘I will join the fight in Supreme Court for 75% local quota in private jobs'

2024 was a tumultuous year for Haryana-based Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and its founder Dushyant Chautala. In March last year, the BJP snapped ties with it just ahead of the Assembly polls. Dushyant, who was the Deputy CM in the outgoing government by virtue of the 10 seats the JJP had won in 2024, saw his party blanked out, with not a single seat and a vote share down to a mere 0.90%.
Dushyant has been trying to revamp his party, and has now announced a membership drive. In an interview with The Indian Express, Dushyant says he is confident of the JJP's re-emergence as a force in Haryana, and says he hopes to venture into Rajasthan, Delhi, and Punjab. Excerpts:
We are going to every booth across all the 90 Assembly constituencies in Haryana. With an average enrollment of 5,000 new members in each of the 90 constituencies of Haryana, we plan to get at least five lakh new members in this ongoing membership drive. The JJP is also going to launch a mega drive to connect the youth with the party.
I made a strong statement against the BJP just yesterday (Thursday). The Chief Minister has failed badly in controlling the deteriorating law and order situation in Haryana. When the CM took over, his slogan was: 'Goonde pardesh chhod do (Gangsters, leave the state)'. Today goonde pradesh mein wapas aa rahe hain (gangsters are now coming back to the state).
What happened in Shahbad last week (referring to the murder of a liquor contractor for which gangster Noni Rana claimed responsibility)? The CM was chairing a meeting with the DGP and liquor vendors assuring them safety and security. On the other hand, a liquor contractor was shot dead in full public view. A similar incident happened in Panchkula. Where is the CM?
A recent example of inefficiency is the water crisis with Punjab… Mismanagement was the biggest reason behind Haryana not getting its legitimate share of water. Nobody took responsibility. He (Saini) was cracking jokes… At the all-party meeting that was chaired on the matter, I gave him (Saini) the idea of writing to the Centre to get paramilitary forces deployed at the Bhakra Nangal Dam.
We have an organisation in Delhi as well as Rajasthan. We have appointed a new party president in Punjab. We have a structure in Uttar Pradesh. We are definitely going beyond Haryana and shall continue our expansion plans.
It was a common minimum programme under which the alliance was done (after the 2019 Assembly polls). We (the JJP) were successful in getting our promises implemented by being a part of the government. Be it Panchayati Raj reservations or increasing the social security pension amount…
We are still pursuing it. And the matter is now pending in the Supreme Court, so we are legally pursuing it. The next hearing is in November. We shall be requesting the Court to grant regular hearings in the matter. I even met the CM and requested the Solicitor General of India and Haryana Advocate General represent this case. I will personally be filing an application to be made a party in this case.
There is no controversy. It is very clear. In 2018 too, I had said that we wanted to put his (Chautala's) picture (on the JJP's posters)… But at that time he was the president of the opposition political party (INLD). Legally, we could not use it. Today, everybody remembers him for his great achievements. Nobody in the JJP has ever said anything bad about him ever. He has always been our guiding force…
The airport in Hisar has a very bright future. But the government needs professional people to run it. Until the government does not hire a CEO and other professional players, such plans can not be materialised. If handled well, this area can boom even bigger than Gurugram.

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