Chandigarh: Former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, who was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video complaining about the quality of food served to the troops of the force, joined the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party on Sunday and said that he will contest the assembly polls against Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Yadav, who hails from Mahendergarh district, joined the JJP in New Delhi in the presence of its leader Dushyant Chautala.

“I am thankful to the JJP and Dushyant Chautala that they nominated me to fight against the chief minister from Karnal,” Yadav said.

He said unemployment was a major issue in Haryana.

“You know the condition of Haryana and how many people are unemployed in the state,” Yadav said, adding that his fight has always been against corruption.

“In Dushyant, I see the image of late Chaudhary Devi Lal and like him, he has a clean reputation. In the future, I want to see him as Haryana’s chief minister and for this, we need people’s support,” he said.

Polling for the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 21.

In the Lok Sabha polls, Tej Bahadur was fielded by the Samajwadi Party against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi but the Election Commission rejected the BSF personnel’s nomination, saying he had not furnished all the details sought.

Meanwhile, the JJP released the second list of party candidates for the Assembly polls late on Sunday evening.

The 15 candidates announced by the party are: Bhag Singh (Kalka), Kusum Sherwal (Sadhaura-SC), Mange Ram (Radaur), Prof Randhir Singh (Pehowa), Rajesh Dhull (Pundri), Bhim Singh Jallala (Nilokheri-SC), Gurdev Ramba (Indri), Kuldeep Malik (Gohana), Rajender Ganeriwala (Sirsa), Sanjay Dalal (Bahadurgarh), Sanjay Kablana (Badli), Upender Kadiyan (Beri), former MLA Moola Ram (Nangal Chaudhary), Taiyyab Hussain Ghasediya (Nuh) and Kuldeep Tewatia (Faridabad).

The party on September 13 named seven candidates in its first list. Of these seven candidates, one is a former minister and two former legislators.

The JJP, which came into existence after a vertical split in INLD following a feud within the Chautala clan, is contesting the next month’s polls alone.

(PTI)