The Power Of 10! Meet Dushyant Chautala, The New Kingmaker In Jat Land

October 24바카라�the vote count for the Haryana assembly has just started. The strapping Dush­yant Chautala, chief of the Jananayak Janata Party (JJP) he founded 10 months ago, told aides Amarjeet Dhanda and Dinesh Dagar the 바카라�key to form the new government바카라� will be in his hands. Hours on, the 31-year-old great-grandson of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal was dot on. It바카라�s a hung verdict and the JJP바카라�s 10 seats in the 90-member assembly made him the kingmaker with two clear choices바카라�a truck with the BJP he had acerbically att­acked before the polls, or go with the Congress that had dismissed his overtures for a pre-poll alliance.

The numbers were with the BJP바카라�40 seats, six shy of a simple majority. Plus, unconditional support of seven independent legislators, including Dush­yant바카라�s estranged grand-uncle Ranjit Chautala. The Congress바카라�31 seats바카라�would fall short even with the JJP바카라�s support. With an assurance of being made deputy CM and a common minimum programme that would accommodate the JJP바카라�s main promises on its manifesto, Dushyant sided with the BJP. Sources say his closeness to junior Union finance minister Anurag Tha­kur바카라�the two are neighbours in Lutyen바카라�s Delhi바카라�helped in the talks with the BJP.

For Dushyant, the meteoric rise from a BSc student at California State Uni­versity with an avid interest in sports (boxing and basketball) a decade ago to a debutante Lok Sabha member in 2014 and a deputy CM now hasn바카라�t been one that dynasts from political families usually take for granted.

Dushyant and younger brother Dig­vijay were suspended on October 19 last year from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the party Devi Lal founded in October 1996. The suspension letter came from uncle, Abhay Chautala, and with the approval of Dushyant바카라�s grand­father and former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala. Rumours of a rift in the Chautala clan바카라�Abhay leading a faction and elder brother Ajay바카라�s family (Ajay and Om Prakash are currently serving a 10-year-jail term in a teacher recruitment scam) steering another바카라�were rife for several months before Dushyant and Digvijay were suspended.

The tipping point came at a public meeting in Gohana town on October 7 to mark the 105th birth anniversary of Devi Lal. A large section of INLD바카라�s youth cadre booed Abhay, shouted zindabad slogans for Dushyant and Digvijay. When Om Prakash Chautala바카라�out on furlough from Tihar Jail바카라�reached the venue, he publicly chastised his grandsons, making it clear that he wanted the party바카라�s reins to stay with Abhay.

After the Gohana rally, Abhay dissolved the INLD바카라�s youth and student wings that Dushyant and Digvijay led. On December 9, with mother Naina Chautala (also an MLA), wife Meghna and Digvijay by his side and a staggering five lakh supporters in attendance바카라�a majority of them Jats, the core vote base of the Chautalas바카라�and several INLD rebels, Dushyant ann­­ounced the formation of JJP at a rally in Jind district.

The JJP바카라�s first electoral challenge came soon after in the Jind assembly bypoll. Dushyant fielded Digvijay, who lost but finished a close second to the BJP nominee and way ahead of Congress stalwart Randeep Singh Surjewala and the INLD candidate. During the Lok Sabha polls this summer, Dushyant had an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal바카라�s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for Haryana바카라�s 10 seats. But he drew a blank바카라�Dushyant lost Hisar, Digvijay crashed in Sonipat. 바카라�Dushyant immediately began strategising for the assembly polls. He toured the state ext­ensively and identified constituencies, where the JJP had a real chance of winning. A majority of our candidates were political greenhorns. But Dushyant바카라�s outreach helped the JJP bag a 25 per cent vote share in its first assembly election. The INLD was reduced to just two per cent and a single MLA (Abhay),바카라� says Ram Kumar Gautam, the JJP바카라�s Narnaund MLA.

Dushyant spent long sessions identifying issues that resonated with the masses. Young JJP workers, sporting white T-shirts with an image of the party chief and captioned Team Dush­yant, canvassed for votes. Teams of women went on door-to-door, urging housewives and college girls to vote the JJP. Promises of 75 per cent reservation in state government jobs for Haryanvi youths, substantial hike in old-age pension and a war on crime against women were repeated endlessly.

He chose the rough road바카라�contesting from Uchana Kalan; fielding mother Naina from Badhra, a tough constituency. Dushyant defeated BJP legislator Prem Lata Singh, wife of BJP heavyweight and old Chautala-rival Birender Singh. Naina trounced Congress stalwart and former BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra. The electoral risks he took, say JJP leaders, is characteristic of the 6-feet-4-inch tall Jat leader.

A confidante says Dushyant has consciously tried to 바카라�build an image that was the very antithesis of most INLD leaders바카라�. While INLD leaders of the past, including members of the Chau­tala clan, 바카라�were seen as arrogant and uninterested in carrying out their dut­ies as elected representatives, Dush­yant focused on performance,바카라� he claims. And how? Well, Dushyant the MP asked over 650 questions바카라�subjects as varied as agrarian crisis and cyber crime바카라�and participated in every deb­ate during the 16th Lok Sabha바카라�s term.

Another JJP leader says: 바카라�Per­sonally he is a reserved person, but Dushyant바카라�s doors are always open to supporters. He greets everyone with folded hands and bows before eld­ers. He is fluent in English, Hindi and Haryanvi and is well educated (bachelor바카라�s degree in business administration and a master바카라�s in law).바카라�

Dushyant바카라�s decision to ally with the BJP has, expectedly, triggered discordant notes, particularly from the state바카라�s Jat voters who had largely shunned CM Manohar Lal Khattar바카라�s party in the ass­embly polls. Also, Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja called the JJP바카라�s move a 바카라�betrayal of the Haryanvi people바카라�.

But a top JJP leader says the choice was borne out of compulsion, rather than greed for power. 바카라�The JJP is a new party. Dushyant has to build on the impressive gains he has made within 10 months of forming his party. If he chose to sit in the Opposition, he ran the risk of having his MLAs poached by the BJP much like Kuldeep Bishnoi바카라�s Haryana Janhit Cong­ress suffered at the hands of the Congress in 2009. As part of the government, Dushyant can keep the pressure up for the BJP to have the JJP바카라�s manifesto promises fulfilled,바카라� he explains.

Will Dushyant tide over the discontent? Will he be booed for the betrayal? The answer is awaited. For now, his stars are in alignment. Uncle Abhay, who had dismissed the JJP as 바카라�bachcha party바카라�, must be ruing his own comeuppance. Is he wondering if he should merge the INLD with the JJP?