Kuldeep Bishnoi joins BJP, praises ‘best’ PM Modi, ‘spotless’ CM Khattar

Soon after joining BJP, Kuldeep Bishnoi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “best” Indian Prime Minister (PM) and praised CM Khattar for his “visionary” policies and “spotless” reputation.

Less than two months after the Congress expelled its Adampur legislator from all party positions for cross-voting in the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls, Kuldeep Bishnoi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi on Thursday along with his wife and former two-term MLA Renuka Bishnoi and supporters in the presence of senior party leaders, including chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda congratulates newly joined party leaders Kuldeep Bishnoi and Renuka Bishnoi, as Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar looks on, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI)

Soon after joining the BJP, Bishnoi, 53, who is a four-term MLA and Lok Sabha MP for two terms, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “best” Indian Prime Minister (PM) and praised chief minister Khattar for his “visionary” policies and “spotless” reputation despite being chief minister for near eight years.

After joining the party, Bishnoi along with Khattar met BJP president JP Nadda.

Khattar, who presided over the function at the BJP office in Delhi where Bishnoi was formally inducted into the party in the presence of state BJP president OP Dhankar and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, accorded a warm welcome to Bishnoi and said that he was joining the BJP without any condition.

Khattar said Bishnoi’s decision to join the BJP will help the party not only in Haryana but also in Rajasthan, where the Bishnoi community has a sizeable presence.

Khattar referred to the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana and recalled how Bishnoi supported the BJP-backed Independent candidate, Kartikeya Sharma, and ensured the defeat of the official Congress candidate. Khattar said it was a close contest for the second Rajya Sabha seat and that despite being a Congress MLA, Bishnoi fulfilled his promise of voting for the BJP candidate.

In his brief address, Bishnoi, who is a younger son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, assured the BJP leadership of working to strengthen the party with full commitment and said that all he wanted from the BJP was respect for his workers and supporters.

State BJP president Dhankar assured Bishnoi that due respect and positions will be given to Bishnoi’s supporters in the BJP according to their seniority. “As he has now joined the BJP today, I hope and wish that the BJP starts growing inside him speedily,” Dhankar said.

Later, speaking to mediapersons, Bishnoi took digs at the Congress, saying the grand old party is in a self-destructive mode and advised the Congress to revive the ideologies of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

A large number of Bishnoi’s supporters were also present on the occasion.

Ahead of joining the BJP, Bishnoi had resigned from his family bastion Adampur assembly seat on Wednesday. The Haryana Vidhan Sabha secretariat has informed the Election Commission (EC) that the Adampur assembly constituency of Hisar district has fallen vacant.