Congress, BJP not untouchable for us: JJP

Jannayak Janata Party chief Dushyant Chautala, who appeared as a kingmaker in Haryana politics after his party won 10 seats in October 21 polls, on Friday kept his options open on aligning with the Congress or BJP, saying both parties are not "untouchable."

"We haven't spoken to anyone... the key still lies with the JJP for a stable government in Haryana," said Dushyant at a media briefing at his residence at 18 Janpath in the national capital, insisting that his party had taken "no decision on support to anyone yet".

"For us, neither the Congress and nor the BJP is untouchable. We will support the party which agrees to implement our agenda of common minimum programme," said Dushyant.

He said any party which would agree to "implement a farm loan waiver, 75 per cent reservation to youths in the private sector and Rs 5,100 pension for senior citizens, we will support it".

Speaking after the JJP national executive, Dushyant said some members of his party wanted a tie-up with the BJP while others favoured the Congress. "If somebody wants to be our partner on the issues that we fought this election and give us due respect, we will support them," he said.

He said his MLAs would decide the alliance issue.

On Thursday, as the counting of votes took place, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda appealed to the independent MLAs as well as other parties to join hands to keep the ruling BJP at bay. However, the Congress won only 31 seats, falling short of the majority by 14 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

The BJP, on the other hand, won 40 seats and on Friday appeared to have stitched together an alliance with eight independents to form the government. These independents have pledged their "unconditional support" to the saffron party led by Manohar Lal Khattar.

However, the party leadership is keen to have Dushyant Chautala-led JJP on board. The JJP led a bitter campaign on the Jat plank, targeting the BJP.

To a question over which party the JJP will ally with, Dushyant's borther, Digvijay Chautala told IANS, "The Congress first needs to show the numbers as to how they are going to form the government."

Digvijay said the party's national executive appointed Dushyant and Sardar Nishant Singh to speak to both (BJP and Congress) on the common minimum programme and that "whosoever agrees" with it, the JJP would go with it.IANS