HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi severs ties with BJP, joins hands with JCP chief Venod Sharma
Accusing the BJP of betraying him, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi on Thursday said the party does politics in the name of Lord Rama and it has a history of betrayal.
Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) on Thursday snapped its ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), putting an end to the prolonged tussle between the two parties which have been in an alliance for three years now.
Accusing the BJP of betraying him, Bishnoi said the party does politics in the name of Lord Rama.
"The BJP has a history of betrayal and we will not contest elections with such people. The elections are round the corner and we have decided not to continue the alliance. We wanted a clean and transparent government in the state which was not possible with a cheating partner," Kuldeep Bishnoi told at a press conference in Chandigarh.
In a major development, Bishnoi also announced a new alliance with Jan Chetna Party floated by former senior Congress leader Venod Sharma. "We have forged an alliance with Venod Sharma and it will be for the next five years," Bishnoi said.
Joining the alliance, Sharma said he and Bishnoi have finalised the future agenda and a joint election manifesto will be released on August 31.
Bishnoi said he wanted to end the politics of favouritism and corruption in the state for which an alliance was forged with the BJP. He said he did his best to keep the alliance intact but selfishness of some leaders became a hurdle in the path of the alliance.
Reacting to a query whether his party will move court against the saffron party, Bishnoi said he expects justice from people as they know the reality. He also refused to name the people who were responsible for the break-up. "It is not the time to go to court. I don't even want to name them. The people will compensate HJC by rejecting the BJP. Besides, there were some vested interests which worked against the alliance. The whole of BJP is cheater," Bishnoi said.
Bishnoi also accused the BJP of masterminding the game to eliminate the regional parties. He said the party initially forged an alliance and then the pressure was build for a merger.
Bishnoi claimed that he is in contact with former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda, who has floated the Haryana Lokhit Party. Party sources said Bishnoi is also sending feelers to the BSP, which has announced to contest election independently.
After forging the new alliance, Bishnoi is trying to bring all political parties under one roof that are against Jat politics.
With 34 per cent vote share, the BJP had emerged as the strongest political party in Haryana during the recent general elections. INLD is the second largest party with 24.4 per cent vote share and Congress with 22.9 per cent vote share has come down to third position. HJC has a vote share of just six per cent, BSP has 4.6 per cent and AAP has 4.2 per cent vote share.
BJP slams HJC president Bishnoi
BJP state president Ram Bilas Sharma on Thursday slammed HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi for breaking the alliance in Haryana.
"HJC has broken the alliance with BJP in Haryana at a time when Assembly election is round the corner. Bishnoi had met BJP national president Amit Shah on August 18 and said that the meeting with him was satisfactory. Then what happened in the last 10 days that he decided to break the alliance?" Sharma said.
"Bishnoi has not maintained practical relations with the BJP ever since the Lok Sabha results were announced... He could not digest the fact that his political stature in the state had gone down drastically.
- Ajay Kumar/ Gurgaon