After failing to get desired party symbol, JJP announces it won't fight Delhi polls

The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) on Tuesday declared it would not contest the upcoming Delhi polls due to issues with the party's election symbol.

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala told reporters here that the election symbols of key", "pair of slippers" and "cup and saucer, on which his party candidates had fought polls earlier, were all reserved by some other outfits for the Delhi elections to be held on February 8.

We had requested the Election Commission of India to allot us key or slippers as poll symbol for the Delhi elections, but were told that both these were unavailable as they had been reserved by some other outfits," Dushyant said.

He said the ECI told the party on Monday that even the cup and saucer symbol was also not available.

The key symbol was reserved by other political outfits in September last year and the other two symbols in December.

Dushyant said the JJP discussed the issue of election symbol with party patron Ajay Singh Chautala and thereafter decided not to field its candidates for the Delhi polls.

"If our candidates fight the polls on a new symbol, they may have to bear loss as a result, he added.

The JJP had been recognised as a "state party" in Haryana by the Election Commission and allotted "key" as its reserved symbol in the state.

Dushyant, whose party is a coalition partner of the BJP in Haryana, said the JJP will extend support to Bharatiya Janata Party in the Delhi polls.

We need to strongly oppose the forces which are trying to mislead public on the issues of CAA and NRC." he said.

On Shiromani Akali Dal's decision to not contest Delhi polls after it was asked by the saffron party to reconsider its stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Dushyant replied, it is their own decision.

If there is any such law which takes away citizenship of any Indian, then we will be against it. But CAA does not threaten citizenship of those who are Indians, he said.

The JJP was formed after a split in the INLD following a feud in the Chautala clan. It had contested last year's Lok Sabha polls with the Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana, but the two parted ways ahead of the state assembly election.

The JJP won 10 of the 90 seats in Haryana assembly polls held in October 2019 and extended support to the BJP which bagged 40 seats.