Bishnoi’s party merges with Congress; Hooda absent

Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) led by Kuldeep Bishnoi on Thursday merged with the Congress in the presence of party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. However, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was conspicuous by his absence.

The HJC was floated by Mr Bishnoi’s father and former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal in 2007 after parting ways with the Congress as he was miffed at being sidelined by the party which preferred Jat leader Mr Hooda as the Chief Minister in 2005.

“I had never separated from Congress. Differences occur in a family. Congress is in our blood. The differences are now over,” Mr Bishnoi, who took over the reins of the party after Bhajan Lal’s death, said.

The HJC had forged an alliance with the BJP for the 2014 parliamentary elections. In the last Assembly polls, the party fought separately and was reduced to just two seats — Kuldeep Bishnoi won from his father’s traditional Adampur seat while his wife Renuka Bishnoi won from Hansi.

“Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are our only leaders. We will work for strengthening the Congress. I will work as an ordinary worker of the party and I have not put any conditions,” Mr Bishnoi said.