Adding a new chapter to Haryana politics, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and his younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi quit the ruling Congress in the state to launch Haryana Janhit Congress-BL (Bhajan Lal) at Janhit rally in Rohtak on Sunday.

The move, however, does not come as a surprise as Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep had been openly expressing dissidence after Bhupinder Singh Hooda was handpicked for the post of chief minister of the state.

Addressing a massive gathering of supporters, Kuldeep lashed out at Hooda, calling him a ‘property dealer’. He claimed that the people of Haryana had voted for Congress because of his father and the party sidelined him in favour of Hooda.

“Hooda spends most of his time in Delhi and does not care for the interests of the people. This is the most corrupt Government in Haryana ever,” said Kuldeep, who won the Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket.

“Rohtak was carefully chosen as the venue for this rally as it is also the hometown of Hooda,” he told the crowd.

Kuldeep said that being in the Congress, which is in power in the state as well as at the Centre, and opposing it was difficult. “But I felt that the interests of the people on issues like the setting up of SEZs were being compromised,” he said. He also claimed that the ruling party had twice tried to avoid this split by offering him a ministry in the Union Government but he had refused. “Even his father was offered governorship,” he said.

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