Dushyant Chautala Says He Will Try to Redress Grievances of MLA Ram Kumar Gautam Who Quit Party Post

Chandigarh: A day after JJP MLA Ram Kumar Gautam resigned from the post of party vice-president, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Thursday said if the senior leader has any grievance, he can raise it on the party platform.

The JJP leader said senior party leaders will talk to the Narnaund legislator and try to redress his grievances.

In a setback to the year-old Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which is the coalition partner of the BJP in the state, Ram Kumar Gautam had resigned from the post of vice-president, saying he was "upset with the functioning of the party".

Gautam (73) had said that Dushyant Chautala should not forget that he became deputy chief minister with the support of party legislators.

"He is the senior-most MLA of our party. If he has any grievance, he can raise it on the party platform. His resignation has not been received in the party office yet. When it comes, we will consult our senior leaders on this," Dushyant told the media here.

"We do not take otherwise whatever he states. However, if he has any grievance, we will look into it and try to redress it after speaking to him," he added. Asked if Gautam had a grudge for not being made a minister in the state cabinet, Dushyant said, "If I do not comment on this, that will be better."

Replying to a question, he said Gautam had proposed that the JJP should have a tie-up with the BJP after the saffron outfit fell short of simple majority in the assembly elections. He said the proposal was later approved by his party MLAs and JJP chief patron Ajay Singh Chautala.

To another question, he said the entire JJP team was working in unison and the party's common minimum programme with BJP would be implemented in letter and spirit from next year. Without naming anyone, Gautam had on Wednesday alleged that those running party affairs had recently shaken hands with a prominent leader against whom the JJP had fought the elections.

Gautam had defeated BJP's Capt Abhimanyu in the assembly elections. When asked that he had recently mentioned that it was because of Dushyant that he became an MLA, Gautam had said, "Yes, that is right. But he should also realise that he became deputy CM because of his MLAs. We worked hard for this and success of other party candidates."

The BJP had won 40 seats in the 90-member assembly and the JJP led by Dushyant bagged 10 seats.