Chandigarh, December 26: Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader and Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Thursday refuted reports of a rift within his party a day after legislator Ram Kumar Gautam resigned as the party's national Vice President. Dushyant Chautala said that the JJP leadership will look into matters raised by Ram Kumar Gautam, adding that he hasn't received resignation from the legislator.

"He (Ram Kumar Gautam) is a senior leader. If he has some grievance, he can come and tell the party members. We have not received his resignation yet. Senior party leaders will talk to him and discuss the matter," Chautala was quoted by news agency ANI as saying. Gautam, who has not resigned from JJP membership, resigned from the post of party vice president, saying Chautala has forgotten "his family after coming to the helm". Dushyant Chautala, Gujarat Riots Feature in Uddhav Thackeray's Retaliation to BJP's 'Unacceptable Remarks Against PM Modi' Charge.

"Most of the legislators in the party are upset with Dushyant," Gautam told the media on Wednesday. Once a BJP legislator, Gautam defeated BJP's sitting Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu from the Narnaud constituency in Hisar district with a margin of 12,029 votes. The JJP legislator was the frontrunner for the cabinet berth in the Manohar Lal Khattar's first cabinet expansion in November in which 10 ministers were inducted.

Gautam's induction into the Cabinet was dropped at the last minute owing to the reluctance of Khattar, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader told news agency IANS. In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the Congress has 31 MLAs, the BJP 40 and the JJP 10. After the election results thew a fractured mandate, the BJP made a post-poll alliance with the JJP and formed the government.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2019 04:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).