Naina Chautala, JJP chief Dushyant's mother, likely to be named Haryana's deputy chief minister

Chandigarh: The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) is considering the name of Naina Chautala for the post of deputy chief minister in the state, party sources said in Chandigarh on Saturday. Naina Chautala is the mother of JJP chief Dushyant Chautala and wife of Ajay Chautala, who is lodged in the jail after conviction in a teacher recruitment scam along with his father and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. [caption id=“attachment_7553591” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of JJP chief Dushyant Chautala. PTI[/caption] She was elected from the Badhra Assembly segment and had defeated Congress candidate Ranbir Singh Mahendra with a margin of 13,704 votes in the just concluded election. However, the final decision is yet to be taken, the sources said. The BJP on Friday had sealed a deal with the JJP to form the next government in Haryana after the saffron party fell short of six seats from the majority mark. Under the arrangement, the chief minister will be from the BJP and deputy chief minister from the JJP, which won 10 seats in the polls to the 90-member Haryana Assembly. Earlier, Naina Chautala was an INLD MLA from Dabwali. She joined the JJP after its formation ten months ago following a feud in the Chautala clan. Dushyant is also expected to reach Chandigarh in the afternoon and meet the governor to submit his party’s letter of support to the BJP. The great grandson of former deputy prime minister Chaudhary Devi Lal, Dushyant had said his party believed that the alliance was necessary for stability in Haryana. The BJP’s decision to win over the Chautalas underlines its quest to placate the Jats, a dominant community in the state, which is believed to have voted against it in the polls.