JJP rebels who defied whip, sitting on the fence: One of Haryana’s richest MLAs to Dushyant’s detractors

As the BJP snapped ties with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) earlier this week and changed government in Haryana in a sudden move, the party counted on the support of five MLAs of its erstwhile alliance partner.

As the Nayab Singh Saini faced a trust vote on the floor of the House on Wednesday, the JJP issued a whip directing its 10 MLAs to remain absent from the Assembly during voting. The five JJP MLAs being seen as “rebels” are Devender Singh Babli, Ram Kumar Gautam, Ishwar Singh, Jogi Ram Sihag, and Ram Niwas Surjakhera. They defied the whip and went to the House but left before the trust vote was taken up. They also skipped a party rally in Hisar. Four of them — Singh, Sihag, Babli and Surjakhera — had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Saini government on Tuesday.

He is a first-time MLA from Tohana and was earlier associated with the Congress, but shifted to the JJP after the grand old party denied him a ticket in the 2019 Assembly polls.

The 53-year-old businessman is relatively new to politics and is currently one of the richest legislators in the state with declared assets of Rs 36 crore. He defeated then BJP chief Subhash Barala in 2019 by more than 50,000 votes.

Asked whether he and the other four MLAs had left the JJP camp, Babli told The Indian Express, “We are JJP MLAs. However, both parties (BJP and JJP) have gone their separate ways.”

The sitting MLA of Barwala in Hisar district, Sihag was one of the most vocal supporters of the farmers’ agitation in 2020. He also offered to resign as MLA in support of their demand to withdraw the now-repealed farm laws. “If people of my constituency ask me to quit, I am ready,” he said then.

Sihag declared assets of Rs 24 crore ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections, in which