Expelled Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as a Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, a day before he joins the Bharatiya Janata Party. While news agency PTI had on Tuesday cited sources to say that he may join the BJP on Thursday (tomorrow), Bishnoi confirmed the move in Hisar.

“Rapid work for development can only be done while being in power. We need to strengthen the work done by CM (BJP’s Manohar Lal Khattar). I’ll give my resignation. We should give a good message even to BJP that a popular leader is joining the party,” Bishnoi said, addressing a gathering.

Notably, Bishnoi was expelled from the Congress party after he cross-voted during the Rajya Sabha elections held in June this year. 

On Tuesday, Bishnoi had hinted that he was going to make the switch, a development in the making for some time now. “August 4, 2022, 10.10 am,” he tweeted on Tuesday. He then followed it up with: “Don’t be afraid to start over. It’s a chance to build something better this time.”

Over the past few weeks, Bishnoi has already held meetings with top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief J P Nadda and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Bishnoi also met BJP president JP Nadda in July. He also met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Delhi and discussed political issues with them.

A four-time MLA, Bishnoi had a fallout with the Congress after it appointed Bhupinder Hooda loyalist Udai Bhan as its Haryana unit chief earlier this year. Soon after cross-voting in the RS polls this Jun, Bishnoi posted a cryptic tweet saying, “I know how to crush a snake’s hood. I do not leave the jungle in fear of snakes.”

Reacting to the Congress expelling him from the party, Bishnoi had earlier said the Congress has different rules for different leaders. “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 cross-voting by Bishnoi cost the Congress the one Rajya Sabha seat it was assured of in the 90-member assembly. Party candidate Ajay Maken failed to secure the berth after Bishnoi cross-voted while the vote of an MLA was declared invalid. Krishan Lal Panwar of the BJP and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma were elected to the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana.

Bishnoi, son of Bhajan Lal, had floated the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) in 2007 along with his father after the Congress handpicked Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the chief minister’s post.

Bishnoi’s party later entered into an alliance with the BJP and two other parties to jointly contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Haryana.

(With PTI inputs)