Chandigarh, Oct 18 : Rejecting Team Anna's claim of tilting the scales in the Hisar by-election, Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Parkash Chautala today said people voted against Congress to vent their anger against the ruling party.
“Team Anna's claim of taking credit is wrong. People voted against Congress to vent their anger against the ruling party...they were fed up by the misrule of Congress at the Centre and the state,” he told a press conference here. Chautala, however, said INLD will support Team Anna on corruption issue and its demand for passage of Jan Lokpal Bill.
“We are ready to support anyone against corruption,” he said.Seeking to take credit over the verdict in Hisar where Team Anna campaigned vigorously against the ruling party, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare had yesterday said, “Congress should take cue after its defeat in Hisar bypoll and pass Jan Lokpal Bill in Winter Session.”
Chautala also demanded resignation of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on moral grounds.
“Hooda camped at Hissar for the entire campaigning period. Despite this, Congress could not save the security deposit of its nominee. Accepting moral defeat he (Hooda) should resign,” he said.
Terming his party's drubbing as a “technical” defeat, The the former Haryana chief minister said, “Technically we lost but vote wise we have won as our vote share increased to 3,49,618 from 2,41,493 in 2009 election, which is an increase of around 41 per cent.”
“Congress was third in all the nine assembly segments whereas INLD nominee Ajay Singh Chautala finished at the top in four and at second position in the remaining five assembly segments,” he said.
“There can be no worst defeat for Congress, that too in a bypoll. The party will soon be wiped out of power in the state due to its misrule,” Chautala said.
Kuldeep Bishnoi, HJC-BJP combine nominee and son of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal whose death caused the bypoll, retained the seat for the party defeating his nearest rival INLD's Ajay Singh Chautala by a margin of 6,323 votes, out of the over nine lakh votes polled.The Congress lost deposit in the by-election, held on October 13 and the result of which was announced yesterday.
