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Haryana: Zila parishad members now extend support to BJP
At least 13 of the 25 members or their representatives of Karnal ZP appeared before the media at a conference hosted by Sohan Singh, husband of BJP-backed chairperson Parvesh Kumari
In a turn of events on Friday, half of the members of Karnal Zila Parishad (ZP), who announced to support the Congress, have now agreed to back the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) within 48 hours of their earlier decision.
At least 13 of the 25 members or their representatives of Karnal ZP appeared before the media at a conference hosted by Sohan Singh, husband of BJP-backed chairperson Parvesh Kumari.
A day after their decision, chief minister (CM) Nayab Saini and district BJP president Yogender Rana got into damage control mode and invited them for a close-door meeting on Thursday.
Addressing the reporters, Gurdeep Singh from Ward Number 17 said they have 14 members, including the chairperson who has agreed to back the BJP, while four others have given their consent on the phone due to their unavailability in town.
“Yes, we had resentment. Our works are stuck due to frequent changes in SOPs. But now we have been assured by the chief minister that our issues will be resolved after the election process is over on June 4. From now onwards, we will support the BJP, be it Lok Sabha candidate Manohar Lal Khattar or by-poll candidate Saini,” Singh said.
People familiar with the matter said this U-turn comes days ahead of a huge congregation in Karnal likely to be chaired by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state president Udai Bhan, where sarpanch, ex-sarpanch, members of block samities, members of ZP and others are scheduled to extend their support to the Congress, particularly in Karnal against Khattar.
On being asked about the event, Singh told the HT, “I cannot comment on the programme, but assure you that there is no resentment. Even today, spoke to at least nine members of block samiti and several sarpanches, all are with us. We have extended full support to Khattar sahib, and all of us will organise successful programmes in our wards to ensure his victory.”
Singh said it was the Congress that spread the rumours about the members deciding to withdraw support to the BJP, while also agreeing that there had been anger against the change in the system.
As reported earlier, a meeting was organised at the ZP office on Wednesday, where 18 members attended, while 15 declared support to Khattar’s rival Divyanshu Budhiraja and five others expressed their support over the phone, Congress’ Sunil Kumar told the HT.
