Haryana bypoll bids farewell to Bhajan Lal: Hooda

Chandigarh, May 26 (UNI) ''In fact, he did not fare well. It's his farewell.'' This is how Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda summed up the dismal performance of the new party of his staunch political opponent Bhajan Lal in the byelections.

The Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) of Mr Bhajan Lal proved to be a non-starter, going by the outcome of the byelections in the three assembly constituencies in Haryana, Mr Hooda said while talking to reporters here today.

The HJC candidates had to bite the dust in Gohana and Indri constituencies which were considered to be strongholds of Mr Bhajan Lal who had been strongly opposing Mr Hooda ever since he was picked up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to be the Chief Minister of Haryana.

Referring to Mr Bhajan Lal's win in Adampur constituency, Mr Hooda said the people voted for a ''Bujurg aadmi'' (elderly man) as Mr Lal was making appeals to them to keep the honour of an ailing old man.

He pointed out that in 2005 assembly elections. Mr Bhajan Lal won on the Congress ticket by a margin of over 71,000. Now when he fought on the HJC ticket, his margin drastically fell to mere 26,000, he added.

Mr Bhajan Lal's victory in the Adampur bypoll was politically meaningless and a non-event, he added.

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