Indicating at the likelihood of his joining the BJP in near future, MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was expelled from all party positions by the Congress after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls, met BJP chief J P Nadda and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday and "discussed political issues with them”.
This was Bishnoi's second meeting with the BJP leadership within a span of two weeks. Bishnoi had, on July 10, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief Nadda in Delhi. The 53-year-old legislator was expelled by the Congress from all party positions last month.
After meeting Nadda and Khattar in Delhi, Bishnoi heaped praise on the two leaders."During the meeting discussed current political issues with him," Bishnoi said after meeting Nadda. On his meeting with Khattar, Bishnoi, who has been warming up to the BJP, said, "We held an important discussion regarding the current political issues of the state and development work of Haryana".
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 another MLA Kiran Choudhry was declared invalid.