Kuldeep Bishnoi-led HJC accuses BJP of betrayal, snaps ties with party

Accusing the BJP of betraying him, Haryana Janhit Congress president Kuldeep Bishnoi announced the end of his party's alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Kuldeep Bishnoi-led HJC accuses BJP of betrayal, snaps ties with party
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Chandigarh: Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress on Thursday snapped its ties with Bharatiya Janata Party, putting an end to the prolonged tussle between the two parties which have been in an alliance for three years now.

Accusing the BJP of betraying him, Bishnoi, the younger son of late chief minister Bhajan Lal, the Narendra Modi-led party is not ready to stick to agreed alliance principles. 

The BJP hit back immediately, accusing Bishnoi's "personal political ambitions" as being responsible for the split.

Haryana will elect a new Assembly most probably in October.

"The BJP continued to betray me constantly. We tried to keep the alliance but (failed). We hoped they (BJP) will change but they did not. We are pulling out of this alliance," he said here.

"The BJP is taking corrupt and goonda leaders from other parties, especially the Congress. We could not have carried on with them in such circumstances.” 

"The entire party (BJP) is 'dhokhebaaz'. I cannot name one particular leader," an upset Bishnoi told reporters.

"The BJP has betrayed Bansi Lal, Devi Lal and Om Prakash Chautala in the past. They have made it a habit," Bishnoi said.

Bishnoi announced his party's decision to ally with the newly-floated Jan Chetna Party of former union minister and ex-Congressman Venod Sharma.

State BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma said Bishnoi was responsible for breaking the alliance. "It is good he has broken it and shown us where he stands."

Meanwhile, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said people of Haryana wanted a CM from BJP and the party just apprised the HJC of this. He further accused the HJC of working as the 'B' team of the ruling Congress party in Haryana.

HJC president Bishnoi was attempting to divide the anti-Congress vote in the upcoming state Assembly Election, BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told media.

"By snapping ties with the BJP, Bishnoi is going to work as a 'B' team of the Congress and help Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda," Hussain said.

He, however, expressed hope that the BJP will still do well in the election.

"People of Haryana are ready for a change. There is a wave for change. Having seen how Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ushered change in the country and working for development, people of the state are ready to walk along with the BJP, so that the pride of Haryana is restored," he said.

He said the BJP won seven of eight Lok Sabha seats it contested in Haryana and by snapping the ties the HJC showed that it had no respect for people's choice.

Jat leader Birender Singh, who quit the Congress recently and joined the BJP, too said that the BJP will not be affected by the break-up of the HJC-BJP alliance.

The BJP, which allied with the HJC in 2011, was earlier ready to play second fiddle to the HJC. 

BJP leaders like then president Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj, who worked out the alliance, had even publicly declared that Bishnoi would be the chief minister if the alliance was voted to power.

Rift between BJP and its alliance partner HJC surfaced soon after the Lok Sabha polls, as the Bishnoi-led outfit failed to win any of the two seats it had contested while BJP bagged seven constituencies.

The ties between the parties also deteriorated due to differences over seat-sharing for the Assembly polls, with Bishnoi seeking 45 of the 90 seats and demanding that he be declared the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance, both of which the BJP has opposed. 

(With Agency inputs)

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