Bishnoi on way out of Congress, meets Nadda and Shah, praises them

A month after cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections, sulking Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi on Sunday gave a definite sign that he is headed to the saffron camp by meeting BJP president J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah here and praising them on social media.

Bishnoi, the 53-year-old son of former Haryana Chief Minister late Bhajan Lal, was on June 11 removed as Special Invitee in the Congress Working Committee and from other party posts after he voted for independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma in the Rajya Sabha polls from Haryana, leading to Congress candidate Ajay Maken’s defeat by a whisker.

Upset with Congress over a variety of issues,the Adampur MLA met the top BJP leaders and tweeted photographs of the meeting. There has been speculation about his future move and his latest move comes, months after the Congress central leadership ignored his claim to be the Haryana Congress president and instead nominated Uday Bhan, a close confidante of his inner-party rival Bhupinder Hooda.

Tweeting in Hindi, the four-time MLA said it was a “real honour and pleasure” to meet Shah, who is a “true statesman”. “I felt his aura and charisma during my interaction with him. His vision for India is awe-inspiring," he added.

On Nadda, he said he felt “very proud” to meet the BJP president, under whom the party has reached “unprecedented heights”. "His easy-going and humble nature sets him apart…I wish him good health and a long life," he said.

Bishnoi’s meeting came amid reports that former Congress Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Anand Sharma, who is also upset with the central leadership, met Nadda. Sharma had dismissed speculation about joining the BJP but said meetings of leaders should not be seen as unusual.

Before the Rajya Sabha elections, Bishnoi had refused to join the Congress MLAs when they were taken to Raipur to ensure that there was no horse-trading. He had then demanded that a meeting be set up between him and top Congress leader Rahul but it did not happen. Later, he had said that he would vote in Rajya Sabha elections after listening to his “inner voice”.

Bishnoi, who was also a Lok Sabha MP earlier, and his father had floated Haryana Janhit Congress in 2007, two years after Hooda was made chief minister. HJC entered into an alliance with BJP and others and contested 2014 polls together but the coalition collapsed soon. Bishnoi returned to Congress in 2016 by merging his party.

In recent times, Congress has seen the exit of leaders like Amarinder Singh, Kapil Sibal, Sunil Jakhar, Hardik Patel, RPN Singh, Ripun Bora, Sushmita Dev, and Luzinho Faleiro. Earlier, leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada among others have also left the Congress.

Some leaders like Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari are sulking over a variety of issues, including the leadership question. Bishnoi’s move also comes at a time a senior Trinamool Congress leader claimed that three sitting MPs and three former MPs are in touch with his party.