In a shot in the arm for Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, four of the six MLAs of Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) on Monday joined the Congress whose strength went up to 44, two short of majority on its own in the 90-member Assembly.

The Congress, which fell six short of simple majority in the Assembly polls, also has the support of seven Independents and the lone BSP legislator Akram Khan.

The four HJC MLAs, Rao Narender Singh (Narnaul), Zile Ram Chochra (Assandh), Satpal Sangwan (Dadri) and Vinod Bhayana (Hansi), said they had “legally split” and “merged with the Congress” as they constituted two-third of the HJC legislature party strength, in the process escaping the anti-defection law.

The development unfolded in a dramatic manner in the afternoon when a nephew of Hooda, Monu, ferried the four MLAs from New Delhi to Chandigarh by air. At Chandigarh, the five drove down to the residence of M S Chopra, an aide of the Chief Minister. They were soon joined by state Congress president Phool Chand Mullana and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala.

After working out the next course of their action, Mullana and Surjewala, accompanied by the MLAs, reached the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. The Chief Minister, however, stayed back. The MLAs called on Assembly Speaker H S Chatha and submitted a letter to him stating that they had merged their party with the Congress.

The four MLAs told reporters that their decision to switch over to the Congress was “unconditional” and accused Bishnoi of hobnobbing with Opposition leader and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala.

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