Cong expels Bishnoi from all party posts
CHANDIGARH: Left red-faced after losing the Rajya Sabha election by a whisker in Haryana due to cross-voting, the Congress cracked the whip and expelled its Adampur legislator Kuldeep Bishnoi, 53, from all party positions.
The party charged Bishnoi with “gross indiscipline and cross-voting” that led to the BJP-JJP backed independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma pulling off a stunning victory.
“The Congress president has expelled Kuldeep Bishnoi from all his present party positions, including the post of special invitee of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) with immediate effect,” Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said in a statement.
The Congress high command has deliberately not expelled the Adampur MLA from the party as by doing so, he would have become an unattached MLA in the assembly and the strength of the party in the 90-member House would have come down to 30. “Now, Bishnoi has to abide by the Congress whip in the House or quit the party,” said a Congress MLA.
“Bishnoi stands pushed to the corner and he is left with no option except leaving the Congress on his own,” said a Congress leader, not wishing to be named. That the Congress will hit back fast and take action against Bishnoi had become clear on Saturday morning when Vivek Bansal, Haryana Congress in-charge and authorised agent of the party for the state Rajya Sabha polls, categorically accused the MLA of “gross indiscipline” by not voting for the party candidate.
“A stern action will be taken against Bishnoi. He has betrayed the party,” Bansal had said while going to Delhi to apprise the party high command. The two-time Lok Sabha MP Bishnoi, who is also a fourth-term MLA, was sulking after the Congress high command did not appoint him as the Haryana Congress chief in the recent reshuffle and was seen reaching out to the BJP.
The MLA did not go to Raipur when the Congress sent MLAs there to avoid chances of horse-trading after Kartikey entered the fray. For quite some time now, Bishnoi had been expressing his angst indirectly against the Congress via a series of tweets.
Reacting to his expulsion, Bishnoi said in a tweet: “The Congress also has rules for some leaders and exceptions for others. Rules are applied selectively. Indiscipline has been repeatedly ignored in the past. In my case, I listened to my soul and acted on my morals. Had the Congress acted this swiftly and strongly in 2016 and on every other critical opportunity they’ve missed, they wouldn’t have been in such dire straits.”