BJP to fight Haryana Assembly polls alone

BJP today accused Haryana Janhit Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, whose party today snapped their alliance, of acting as the B-team of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and announced that it will fight the Haryana Assembly elections on its own.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain mocked Bishnoi's "delusion" of becoming the state's chief minister and derided him as "a general without an army". People of Haryana, he said, have decided to elect a BJP government.

"BJP will fight election on its own... and will form government after getting people's mandate. People have made it clear that they want a BJP government in the state," he said in a press conference soon after Bishnoi's announcement of severing ties with BJP.

BJP had fought eight and HJC two seats in Lok Sabha elections as alliance partners and while BJP won seven seats HJC lost both of them. Both parties have had an uneasy run since then as BJP wanted to give fewer seats to HJC in assembly polls than what was decided earlier, citing changed ground realities.

"We wanted him (Bishnoi) to understand ground realities. Any understanding is rooted in the facts on ground. He has left us as B-team of Congress. He had six MLAs and all of them except him joined Congress. He is a general without an army. We have never betrayed any ally," he said.

Hussain said relations between both parties had soured during Lok Sabha polls itself when BJP rejected Bishnoi's proposal to field Venod Sharma, a close aide of Hooda who has left Congress.

BJP also turned down the proposal to make Bishnoi's controversial elder borther Chandra Mohan alias Chand Mohammad the alliance candidate.

"He did not have candidates for two Lok Sabha seats. Where would he get people to fight Assembly polls? And he has delusion of becoming chief minister," he said.

Bishnoi had said they tried their level best to keep the alliance working and made sincere efforts.

"BJP is not ready to stick to agreed alliance principles," Bishnoi, younger son of late chief minister Bhajan Lal, had said, adding "betrayal is in the nature of BJP".