Haryana MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi on Sunday met BJP chief J.P. Nadda and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and discussed political issues. On July 10, Bishnoi had met Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the recent Rajya Sabha biennial election held in June, Congress MLA Bishnoi cross-voted which led to the defeat of party candidate and former Union Minister Ajay Maken.
Due to the cross-voting, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi removed Bishnoi from all party positions including the post of a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee with immediate effect.
On his frequent meetings with BJP leaders in recent weeks and possibility that he may switch over to the saffron party, former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda had maintained that the Adampur legislator is free to take his own decision, but he should resign as an MLA before doing so. Bishnoi, a four-time MLA and two-time MP and younger son of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, has been sulking ever since the Congress ignored him for the post of its Haryana unit chief during a revamp earlier this year.
The party appointed Udai Bhan, a loyalist of former chief minister Hooda, as its Haryana unit chief. After cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls, Bishnoi had posted a cryptic tweet saying, "I know how to crush a snake's hood. I do not leave the jungle in fear of snakes." On his expulsion from the party, Bishnoi had said the Congress has rules for some leaders and exceptions for others. Rules are applied selectively. Indiscipline has been repeatedly ignored in the past. In my case, I listened to my soul and acted on my morals.
The Congress, which is the main opposition party in Haryana, was assured of one Rajya Sabha seat by virtue of the number of MLAs it has in the 90-member assembly. However, Congress candidate Ajay Maken failed to secure the berth after Bishnoi cross-voted, while the vote of an MLA was declared invalid.
BJP's Krishan Lal Panwar and the saffron party-backed Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma were elected to the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana. Bishnoi and his father Bhajan Lal had floated the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) in 2007 after the Congress handpicked Hooda for the chief minister's post following the party's thumping victory in the 2005 assembly polls.
Also Read | Expelled Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi meets Amit Shah, JP Nadda; sparks speculation he may join BJP
Also Read | 'Party rules are applied selectively': Kuldeep Bishnoi takes jibe at Congress after his expulsion
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