Jannayak Janta party is confident of putting on a good performance in the assembly elections in rajasthan, where the Haryana-based outfit is contesting from 20 seats in its first foray outside its home base. ajay Singh Chautala, who heads the regional outfit, was a two-time legislator from rajasthan during his time in the indian National Lok Dal before the party split into the Jannayak Janta party (JJP) in 2018. The JJP is now looking at ajay Singh Chautala’s guidance and experience to manoeuvre the polls in Rajasthan. The party is also banking on Chaudhary Devi Lal, the former deputy prime minister whose political legacy it claims to carry forward, who was the mp from Sikar in 1989. Three of the 20 assembly seats the party is contesting are in the Sikar parliamentary segment.

The JJP, a bjp ally in haryana, was keen to contest the rajasthan polls jointly but decided to field candidates on its own after the saffron party did not show any inclination. In haryana, there have been signs of differences between the bjp and the JJP in recent months. Some senior bjp leaders have also talked about contesting next year’s lok sabha and assembly polls on their own and a section are in favour of snapping ties with the JJP. Both the parties have remained non-committal on contesting the 2024 elections jointly. The JJP, formed after a vertical split in the indian National Lok Dal, extended support to the bjp after the saffron party fell short of majority following the 2019 haryana assembly polls. JJP Secretary General Digvijay Chautala said the party and other regional outfits hold the key to the rajasthan assembly election fortunes, referring to its ‘key’ poll symbol.

About the JJP’s chances, he said, “We will put up a good performance.” Pointing to regional parties bagging a few seats in assembly polls in rajasthan over the years, Digvijay Chautala said these outfits “will win 30-35 seats, indicating that no single party will be able to form a government without their support”. “All regional forces will have to come together and make some sort of alliance post the results and join hands,” he said, pointing to the scenario if no single party gets a majority.