New Delhi: Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi on Wednesday (August 3, 2022) resigned from the Haryana Assembly and is now expected to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Bishnoi, who submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, said that Congress is "no longer" what it was during Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi's time. The four-time MLA and two-time MP added that the party has deviated from its ideology. His resignation has necessitated a bypoll for the Adampur seat in the Hisar district, which Bishnoi currently represents.


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"I feel the Congress is no longer what it used to be during Indiraji and Rajiv Gandhiji's time. Congress has deviated from its ideology. It has been reduced to a party of 'chatukars' (sycophants). Many of those who are running the party are those who either have not fought elections or haven't won for decades," Bishnoi was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.


"All decisions taken by them are proving wrong across the entire country," he added.


The 53-year-old was expelled from all party positions by the Congress soon after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls in June. He had been sulking since before that and had raised a banner of revolt after the party ignored him for the post of its Haryana unit chief during a revamp earlier this year.


Bishnoi in the past few weeks had met Union Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar. He is likely to join the BJP on Thursday.






For the younger son of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, it will be the second parting with the Congress, nearly six years after he had returned to the fold.


Bishnoi and his father Bhajan Lal had floated the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) in 2007 after the Congress handpicked Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the chief minister's post following the party's thumping victory in 2005. The HJC later entered into a tie-up with the BJP and two other parties, who jointly contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Haryana. But the alliance crumbled before the assembly polls.


Around six years ago, Bishnoi returned to the Congress fold. However, despite his return to Congress, Bishnoi and Hooda never had warm relations.


(With agency inputs)