Miffed with party functioning, vice-president of Dushyant Chautala's JJP resigns from post

In a setback to Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, the vice president of his Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), Ram Kumar Gautam, on Wednesday resigned from his post as he was miffed with the party's functioning.

"I have resigned from the post of party vice president," Gautam, who is also a legislator, told reporters here.

However, he clarified that he has not left the party. "I will leave the party the day I cease to become an MLA," he asserted.

"I am not hurt that I was not made minister, but hurt that I got to know later that the alliance was sealed in a meeting at a Gurugram Mall," he said in an apparent reference to the JJP-BJP alliance.

Gautam said that Chautala is holding 11 Cabinet portfolios which could have been distributed among party MLAs, adding that he should not forget that he became deputy chief minister with the support of his party legislators.

Gautam had defeated Captain Abhimanyu, a minister in the previous BJP government, from Narnod Assembly constituency.

"Dushyant Chautala wants to become the tallest Jat leader by following the elders of his family. I have the support of 36 castes. He would have progressed had he made me a minister," the disgruntled leader said.

"He is sitting on 11 ministries. Where shall other MLAs go?" Gautam asked.

According to the official state government website, ten departments are listed against Chautala's name, including Excise & Taxation and Industries & Commerce, among others.

In the elections, BJP had bagged 40 seats in the 90-member Haryana assembly, while the Congress bagged 31. After hectic parleys, the BJP had entered an alliance with Chautala's newly-formed party which had 10 seats.

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