Suspended Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi joins BJP in New Delhi

Former Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.

Bishnoi was expelled from the Congress party in June after voting for a independent candidate endorsed by the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections on June 10.

Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar welcomed him to the party.

“Kuldeep Bishnoi supported PM Modi’s leadership, backed BJP candidate in Rajya Sabha poll. We welcome him", Khattar said.

राष्ट्रवादी विचारधारा व सुशासन की @BJP4India की नीति से प्रभावित होकर पूर्व विधायक श्री @bishnoikuldeep जी और श्रीमती @bishnoi_renuka जी आज भाजपा परिवार में शामिल हुए, पार्टी में उनका हार्दिक स्वागत है।

नए हरियाणा के निर्माण में आप दोनों निश्चित ही अपना महत्वपूर्ण योगदान देंगे। pic.twitter.com/s4RT4iL8r1

— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) August 4, 2022

Bishnoi is the son of Bhajan Lal, three-time Chief Minister of Haryana. He first became the Member of Legislative from Adampur in 1998. The seat is a family pocket borough from where his family hasn't lost since in 1968.

In 2007, Bishnoi had been expelled from the Congress for criticising then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, alleging that he had been harming the interests of farmers by promoting economic zones.

In 2009, the party won six seats but five of the MLAs defected to the Congress. In 2016, he merged his Haryana Janhit Congress with the Congress. In 2019, he defeated social media star Sonali Phogat from Adampur.

During the Haryana Rajya Sabha elections held in June, 2022 it was believed that Ajay Maken will sail through. However, he was edged out by JJP-backed Kartikeya Sharma. Sharma received 29.6 votes, whereas Maken received 29 votes. The second seat was won comfortably by the BJP candidate.

Kuldeep Bishnoi’s wife Renuka Bishnoi, who was also a member of the Congress party, has also switched to the BJP.

READ| Who is Kuldeep Bishnoi? Why was he expelled by Congress?