Bhajan Lal’s son hits out at Congress for enticements, says will go with BJP

Kuldeep Bishnoi, Hisar MP and son of former Haryana chief minister late Bhajan Lal, ruled out his return to the Congress and said his focus is to ensure Narendra Modi occupies the Prime Minister’s seat in the 2014 polls.

Kuldeep Bishnoi, Hisar MP and son of former Haryana chief minister late Bhajan Lal, ruled out his return to the Congress and said his focus is to ensure Narendra Modi occupies the Prime Minister’s seat in the 2014 polls.

HT Image

Bishnoi said the Congress has approached him twice during the last four years with offers for plum posts, but he turned them down as his family and supporters favoured an alliance with the BJP.

“There is no question of returning to the Congress. I have been offered the posts of deputy chief minister and cabinet minister at the Centre since 2009, but I declined,” Bishnoi said.

Bishnoi, a second-term MP and younger son of late Bhajan Lal, said his party — Haryana Janhit Congress, according to the existing alliance will allow the BJP to contest from eight of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.

“Corruption will be our main election plank in Haryana. The state government has a lot to answer about the illegal land deals, which has hugely benefitted outsiders including the top leaders of the ruling party and their relatives,” he said.

Bishnoi dismissed reports of a grand alliance between his party, the BJP and Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal to ensure one-to-one fight against the Congress in order to avoid a split in the opposition votes.

“How can we align with the party whose leaders have been convicted in a corruption case and sentenced to 10 years in jail? Joining hands with the party whose top leadership stands disqualified from contesting elections cannot even be imagined,” Bishnoi said.

Bishnoi would begin a state tour to identify issues for the HJC-BJP alliance before the polls.