After Akali Dal, BJP's Haryana ally JJP refuses to contest Delhi Assembly polls

Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) became the second BJP ally to back out of the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). On Wednesday, addressing a press conference, Chautala confirmed that the party will not be contesting the polls next month, citing 'symbols.' The JJP chief said that the Election Commission failed to grant them with the desired symbol, thus prompting the party to back out from the elections. 

"We won't field candidates in Delhi polls since the symbol is a very important issue. We had requested Election Commission to give key or slippers as a symbol, these were given to another organisation. In such a situation, JJP has decided not to contest," Dushyant Chautala said. The JJP aided the BJP to form a government in Haryana by allying with the party in the Assembly elections last year, which saw a close contest. 

Explaining the party’s stand, Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa stated that after the BJP leadership asked Akali Dal to reconsider its stand on CAA, Akali Dal decided that instead of changing its stand, it won’t contest the elections. Adding to his statement, Sirsa also clarified the party's stand on the National Register of Citizens and stated that NRC should not be implemented. "Shiromani Akali Dal also believes that the National Register of Citizens should not be implemented. We welcomed CAA but we never demanded that any religion be excluded from this act."

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NDA alliance in Delhi Elections

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari revealed that there would be no tie-up with its NDA allies SAD and JJP in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. On January 17, BJP released the first list of 57 candidates. Tiwari stated that a total of three of the remaining 13 seats would be contested by allies. While JDU will contest on 2 seats, the Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP will field its candidate from one constituency.  In the 2015 Assembly election, SAD and BJP had an electoral pact whereby the SAD’s two candidates fought on the BJP symbol while two others fought on the SAD symbol. JJP was exploring the possibility of gaining an alliance as it helped BJP form the government in Haryana. 

Contrary to speculation, none of the sitting parliamentarians featured in BJP’s first list. However, the BJP hasn’t put up a candidate in either Krishna Nagar or New Delhi from where Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is fighting the election. This opens up the possibility of senior BJP leaders such as Harsh Vardhan and Manoj Tiwari joining the poll fray. Meanwhile, newcomer Ravi Negi has been pitted by the BJP against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. 

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