Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi resigns from Haryana Assembly, to join BJP soon

Chandigarh, Aug 03: Haryana's Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was expelled from all party positions by the Congress after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls in June, will join the BJP on Thursday.

"BS Hooda had challenged me to resign, and I accepted his challenge. Now, I challenge him to contest elections and win from Adampur constituency," said Kuldeep Bishnoi after resigning as MLA.

On July 10, Bishnoi had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda in Delhi.

After meeting the BJP leaders, Bishnoi had heaped praise on them.

The 53-year-old legislator was expelled by the Congress from all party positions last month.

Since then, he has been warming up to the BJP.

Bishnoi, a four-time MLA and two-time MP, has been sulking ever since the Congress ignored him for the post of its Haryana unit chief during a revamp earlier this year.

The party appointed Hooda loyalist Udai Bhan as its Haryana unit chief.

After cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls in June, Bishnoi had posted a cryptic tweet saying, "I know how to crush a snake's hood. I do not leave the jungle in fear of snakes." On his expulsion from the party, Bishnoi had earlier said the Congress has rules for some leaders and exceptions for others. 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 Congress, which is the main opposition party in Haryana, was assured of one Rajya Sabha seat by virtue of the number of MLAs it has in the 90-member assembly. However, Congress candidate Ajay Maken failed to secure the berth after Bishnoi cross-voted while the vote of an MLA was declared invalid.

BJP's Krishan Lal Panwar and the saffron party-backed Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma were elected to the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana.