A day after JJP MLA from Narnaund Ram Kumar Gautam “resigned” from his party post and hinted of a revolt, the party’s leadership led by Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala went into a huddle for damage control, but the defiant legislator hardened his stance further.
Dushyant today had a meeting with senior leaders of the JJP, including the party’s state president Nishan Singh at the party office in Chandigarh and later, speaking to mediapersons, he tried to downplay Gautam’s outburst.
“Ram Kumar Gautam is a senior leader. He can discuss his issues at the party forum anytime. I haven’t received his resignation from the post of national vice-president of the party. If it comes, our senior leaders will meet him and discuss with him the grievances, if any, he has with the party leadership,” said Dushyant today.
When his attention was drawn towards the serious allegations levelled by Gautam against him and his family, the Deputy CM said the Narnaund legislator was elder to him and he didn’t take anything said by him to heart.
Addressing the defiant legislator as “Dada Ram Kumar Gautam”, Dushyant said the senior leader’s contribution to the expansion of the party was immense.
When asked whether the party planned to take any action against him, Dushyant said the JJP state president would take a call if any disciplinary action was called for against the legislator.
Asked whether Gautam was upset over not being considered for ministerial berth, Dushyant said it would be better if he did not comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, Gautam today toughened his stand further. “I don’t want to meet Dushyant Chautala or any of his leaders. Nor do I want any of them to come to meet me. I repent the day I accepted his (Dushyant’s) offer to contest from Narnaund. He wanted me to contest because he knew only I could defeat Captain Abhimanyu, who was the second biggest leader of the BJP after CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Dushyant struck a deal with Abhimanyu in a Gurugram mall to keep me out,” Gautam alleged.
Asked whether he was in touch with the BJP or the Congress, Gautam replied in the negative but said most of the JJP MLAs were annoyed with Dushyant and the JJP leadership.
“Take the case of any one of them. Devender Babli won from Tohana on his own, as he had got over 35,000 votes as Independent last time. Ishwar Singh from Pundri is a former Rajya Sabha member and has been member of the HPSC and the National Commission for SCs and STs, Jogi Ram from Barwala won on his own and so did Ram Niwas from Narwana, and some others,” he said.
Gautam alleged that Chautalas had already lost their base in their homes district Sirsa and that was the reason why Dushyant’s mother Naina Chautala ‘fled’ from her Dabwali Assembly seat and chose to contest from Badhra in Bhiwani.
He alleged that he had already realised that Dushyant fooled him and people would also soon realise that the Deputy CM’s clan used people for their selfish ends.
He alleged that the politics for Chautala clan was a business and not the means to serve people.
