Kuldeep Bishnoi held a meeting with his supporters in Adampur on Tuesday evening and sought their advice on joining the BJP, to which everyone raised their hands in support.
Haryana’s Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was expelled from all party posts by the Congress after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls in June, will join the BJP on Thursday.
Intention to work fast for development while still in power. We need to strengthen the work of the Chief Minister (BJP’s Manohar Lal Khattar). He said to resign. We should send a good message to the BJP that a popular leader is joining the party,” Bishnoi said at a rally.
Notably, the Congress expelled Bishnoi from the party after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections held in June this year.
On Tuesday, Bishnoi hinted that he was about to make a change, something that had been brewing for some time. “August 4, 2022, 10.10 am,” he tweeted on Tuesday. He then followed it up with: “Don’t be afraid to start over. This is your chance to build something better.”
Over the past few weeks, Bishnoi has already held talks with top BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Bishnoia’s meeting with BJP president JP Nadda in July was also positive. He also met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Delhi and reviewed political issues with him.
Bishnoi, a four-time MLA, had a falling out with the Congress after it roped in Bhupinder Hooda loyalist Uday Bhan as the Haryana unit chief earlier this year. Cross-voting in the RS polls this June, Bishnoi also posted a cryptic tweet saying, “I know how to crush a snake’s hood. I do not leave the forest for fear of snakes.”
Reacting to his expulsion from the party, Bishnoi had earlier said that the Congress has different rules for different leaders. “Rules are applied selectively. Indiscipline has been repeatedly overlooked in the past. In my case, I listened to my soul and acted according to my morals.”
Bishnoi’s cross-voting ensured the Congress lost one Rajya Sabha seat in the 90-member assembly. Party candidate Ajay Maken Bishnoi failed to secure a berth after cross-voting when an MLA’s vote was declared invalid. BJP’s Krishan Lal Panwar and independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma won two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana.
Bhajan Lal’s son Bishnoi, he formed the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) with his father in 2007. When Congress elected Bhupinder Singh Hooda as Chief Minister.