Fourth JJP leader joins BJP in two days ahead of Haryana assembly poll

Former JJP MLAs join BJP ahead of Haryana Assembly poll, aiming to bring the party back to power.

A day after three former Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) MLAs joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in Jind, another JJP MLA, Devender Babli, joined the saffron party in New Delhi on Monday (September 2, 2024) ahead of the upcoming election in Haryana. Besides Mr. Babli, former JJP district president Sanjay Kablana and former Gurgaon jail superintendent Sunil Sangwan joined the BJP.

Mr. Babli, the State’s former Development and Panchayat Minister, who had supported the Congress’s Sirsa candidate Kumari Selja during the Lok Sabha election, joined the BJP after the Congress leadership refused to assure him a party ticket for the Assembly poll. In 2019, he had defeated the BJP’s then State president Subhash Barala from Tohana with the highest margin of votes.

After joining the BJP, Mr. Babli said he “felt proud” and said he would work with other leaders to bring the party back to power in Haryana for a third time.

Saying that it was a “homecoming”, Mr. Kablana said the political equations were such that he had “lost his way” earlier and left the party. Mr. Sangwan, the son of former Minister and BJP leader Satpal Sangwan, quit as the Gurgaon jail superintendent a day ago to enter politics. He is eyeing a ticket from the Dadri Assembly constituency.

Welcoming the three to the party, the BJP’s national general-secretary Arun Singh said there was a “wave in favour of the party” in Haryana and the people of the State were eager to form a BJP government for the third time in a row.

BJP Haryana president Mohan Lal Badoli told reporters that the party’s central leadership has sought feedback from the ground on prospective candidates and the list would be made public after a decision was taken. He said the State and Central leadership would sit together and decide on the candidates.