New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi on Wednesday resigned from the Haryana Assembly, and as per sources, he is all set to join the BJP on Thursday.
Bishnoi thus became another high-profile Congress leader to drift towards the saffron camp after Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada.
Once considered close to the Gandhis, Bishnoi was reportedly upset after Udai Bhan, a close aide of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was made the Haryana Congress President.
Bishnoi, who had earlier floated his own party before merging it with the Congress, said, “The party has drifted from the ideology of Indira Gandhi.”
His main rivalry in the state was with Hooda, who was appointed as the Chief Minister in 2004 ignoring the claims of Bhajan Lal, Bishnoi’s father.
Earlier in May this year, Kapil Sibal had exited the Congress to become an independent Rajya Sabha MP with the support of the Samajwadi Party. Sibal, however, did not join the BJP nor has he criticised the Congress ever since he left.
Former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar too had left the party after reportedly being upset with the Congress leadership.
“I was feeling uncomfortable, helpless and ignored for the last many months and I understood that now I am not needed in the party. Therefore, I distanced myself. I was not able to do whatever I wanted to do by staying inside the party,” he had said.
Kumar had also predicted loss for the Congress in Punjab ahead of the Assembly elections held earlier this year.
Prior to Sibal, former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar had jumped ship from the Congress to the BJP. After joining the BJP, Jakhar had said that it was not easy to break 50 years of relationship with the Congress.
“From 1972 to 2022, my three generations considered Congress as their family. But an attempt was made to suppress my voice in the Congress. I was given a notice for speaking in the interest of Punjab and the country,” he had said.
Former Union minister R.P.N. Singh, and Patidar leader Hardik Patel, the ex-working president of Gujarat Congress, too had left the party in the recent past.
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