Cong expels Bishnoi from all party posts

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, June 11

The Congress has expelled rebel Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi from all party positions and removed him from the Congress Working Committee, in which he was a special invitee, after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha poll which ensured the defeat of party candidate Ajay Maken.

All-India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal issued the letter to this effect today.

Political facts

• Kuldeep Bishnoi (53) made his political debut as Congress MLA in 1998 from Adampur bypoll
• He won the Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat in 2004 as Congress candidate
• Formed HJC (BL) on December 2, 2007, to quit Congress
• Had an alliance with the BSP in 2009 but tie-up ended in two months
• HJC won six seats in 2009 Assembly poll. Five MLAs defected to Congress to form the government
• He formed the HJC-BJP alliance in 2011
• Lost the Hisar Lok Sabha seat in 2014 to INLD’s Dushyant Chautala. Coalition terminated.
• Formed alliance with Venod Sharma of the Jan Chetna party and won two seats in 2015 Assembly poll
• Merged the HJC with the Congress in 2016

Bishnoi’s spokesperson Mohit Sharma said that Bishnoi would reply to any notice issued by the party.

However, his act of voting against the party candidate seems to have paved the way for his ouster from the Congress for the second time. He has taken the same political route which had led to his ouster from the Congress 15 years ago. Then a Congress MP from Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat, Bishnoi had revolted against the Congress after the party high command opted to install Bhupinder Singh Hooda as Chief Minister in Haryana after the party won the 2005 Assembly poll. He formed his own outfit -– Haryana Janhit Congress (Bhajan Lal) — at a rally in Rohtak on December 2, 2007.

Bishnoi, who claims to have inherited the legacy of his father Bhajan Lal, failed in his political adventures after coming out of the Congress and finally merged with the Congress in 2016.