After leaving BJP, Hisar MP Brijendra Singh faces litmus test
Deepender Deswal
Hisar, March 11
True to the saying that politics makes strange bedfellows, Hisar MP Brijendra Singh, who represented the BJP till Sunday forenoon, is now a Congress member and a party ticket aspirant from this Lok Sabha constituency.
DEVELOPMENT WORKS AT A GLANCE
- Start of Hansi-Meham-Rohtak railway line
- Introduction of several new trains from Hisar
- Maximum contribution to relief funds during Covid-19 outbreak
- 100% recommendation of the MPLAD fund
- Launch of 58 open gyms in villages
- 275 water tankers for village panchayats
- Rs 42 lakh grant to three bar associations
- Rs 58 lakh for e-library, new classrooms, RO water facilities, coolers in schools
- Over Rs 5 crore grant for community welfare societies, NGOs
- Rs 87 lakh grant for irrigation facilities
- Rs 1 crore grant for sanitation and hygiene
- 70% success rate in recommendations for relief for cancer patients under PM Relief Fund
Report Card
MP: Brijendra Singh
Attendance in Lok Sabha: 99%
Questions raised: 162
MPLAD fund received: Rs 17cr
Fund utilisation: Nearly 100%
(Rs 61,000 unused)
GRANTS FOR VILLAGES
I had raised issues relating to farmers and problems of people in the Lok Sabha. It has been my focus to release grants for sports and healthcare facilities in villages. Brijendra Singh, Hisar MP
PROBLEMS PERSIST
There have been many problems, but he could not redress the issues. Umed S Lohan, INLD Ticket aspirant
Brijendra’s defecting to the Congress was so swift that while water tankers carrying his name and the BJP symbol were being distributed among village panchayats from the MPLAD fund in Hisar, he announced on his ‘X’ handle about his decision to quit the BJP and join the Congress.
The IAS-turned-politician had joined the electoral battle in 2019 on a BJP ticket and registered an emphatic victory riding on the Modi wave. He had defeated JJP candidate and sitting MP Dushyant Chautala by a margin of around over three lakh votes, while Congress candidate Bhavya Bishnoi trailed at third spot. Dushyant formed post-poll alliance with the BJP following the 2019 Haryana Assembly polls and now serving as the Deputy CM. Bhavya too joined the BJP and got elected to the Assembly from Adampur segment in Hisar.
With the latest twist in Hisar politics, Brijendra is yet again standing in the rival political camp — with the Congress this time. While Dushyant has been aiming the LS seat for the JJP under alliance quota, Bhavya’s father Kuldeep Bishnoi is a BJP ticket aspirant for the seat.
Though Brijendra never came in direct confrontation with his political rivals in the Congress or the JJP, the tussle over the Uchana Assembly segment (Brijendra’s home turf) and Hisar Lok Sabha seat has made them natural political rivals that was also seen as the main reason behind Brijendra’s switch to the Congress.
Rajpal Singh, a resident of Hisar’s Navdeep Colony, said Brijendra was hardly active in the field. “It was political compulsions that drove him to switch sides. If the Congress gives him ticket, it will be a tough test for him,” he said. Kuldeep Sheokand, a resident of Kakrod village in Uchana, said, “It was a common refrain in the segment that a right person is in the wrong party. His decision to switch sides was as per aspirations of the people here.”
Umed Singh Lohan, an INLD ticket aspirant, said Brijendra had failed to serve the people of his constituency. “There have been many problems. But he could not redress the issues. Even his presence in the segment has been quite low that created a disconnect between the MP and the electorate,” he said.
Brijendra said he had raised issues related to farmers and problems of the people in the Lok Sabha. “It has been my focus to release grants for sports and healthcare facilities in villages and take along various sections of society in the development process.”
