Cong MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi resigns from Haryana Assembly, challenges Bhupinder Hooda

Chandigarh, August 3: Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi on Wednesday resigned from the Haryana Assembly. Bishnoi submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, which is likely to be accepted by Wednesday evening. He will now join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday. "Congress is no longer the party of Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. I will work in the BJP as an ordinary worker," Bishnoi added. Kuldeep Bishnoi's resignation will necessitate a byelection from the Adampur seat in the Hisar district. For the unversed, Bishnoi was expelled from all party positions by the Congress soon after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls in June. After putting in his papers, Bishnoi "challenged" former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda to run in the Adampur byelection against him or his son Bhavya Bishnoi. Also Read | Centre releases guidelines to contain Monkeypox outbreak; details inside "BS Hooda had challenged me to resign, and I accepted his challenge. Now, I challenge him to contest elections and win from the Adampur constituency," he said shortly after tendering his resignation. Bishnoi further said that he was impressed by the working style of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal. Earlier, while addressing a gathering in Hisar, he stated, "Rapid work for development can only be done while being in power. We need to strengthen the work done by the CM. I'll give my resignation (from Congress). We should give a good message even to BJP that a popular leader is joining the party." Notably, the four-time MLA and two-time MP raised a revolt banner when the party skipped over him for the post of Haryana unit president during a reorganization earlier this year. Bishnoi met with his supporters in Adampur on Tuesday evening and sought their advice on joining the BJP. Following that, he informed them that the long exile had come to an end. He stated that, in response to the people of the Adampur constituency's demand, he will travel to Chandigarh on August 3 and resign as MLA, and then join the BJP with his supporters on August 4. Also Read| CWG 2022: Indian Women’s Lawn Bowls Team script history by clinching Gold -PTC News