Former JJP Leaders Strengthen BJP in Haryana Ahead of Assembly Bypoll

Former Jannayak Janta Party leaders Anoop Dhanak, Ram Kumar Gautam, and Jogi Ram Sihag have joined the BJP, bolstering the ruling party in Haryana before the October 5 Assembly bypoll. They were welcomed by key BJP figures, including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, at a rally in Jind.

Former Jannayak Janta Party leaders Anoop Dhanak, Ram Kumar Gautam, and Jogi Ram Sihag, who recently resigned from the party, joined the BJP on Sunday. This move is seen as a significant boost for the ruling party in Haryana ahead of the October 5 Assembly bypoll.

The three leaders, along with Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma, were welcomed into the BJP fold by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the party's state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli, and its Haryana affairs co-incharge Biplab Kumar Deb at a rally held in Jind. Sharma's political lineage includes her husband, Haryana Janchetna Party chief and former Union Minister Venod Sharma, and her son, Independent Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma, who were also present at the event.

Anoop Dhanak, Ram Kumar Gautam, and Jogi Ram Sihag were previously Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) MLAs. Gautam, a vocal critic of former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, had earlier represented the Narnaund segment. Meanwhile, Dhanak served as an MLA from Uklana, and Sihag from Barwala. Their shift to the BJP, along with their support for BJP leader Kiran Choudhry in the recent Rajya Sabha bypoll, signifies a strategic realignment of political allegiances in the region.

(With inputs from agencies.)