Haryana BJP leader and former MP Kuldeep Bishnoi is on a two-day tour in Hisar. The BJP on Friday appointed Bishnoi as a co-incharge for the party’s Rajasthan unit, along with former Gujarat deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. Meanwhile, Prahlad Joshi was appointed the poll incharge for the state.
Kuldeep Bishnoi has now expressed his desire to contest the next elections from the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency. This has raised a challenge for sitting MP Brijendra Singh. Until now, no one other than Singh had staked claim to the Hisar seat. Bishnoi’s ticket claim has also become a focal point of discussion since former Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, the father of MP Brijendra Singh, keeps besieging the government—led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar—from public forums, advising party leadership to break off the alliance with the Jannayaka Janata Party (JJP).
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, MP Brijendra Singh defeated current Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, who contested on a JJP ticket, and Bhavya Bishnoi, who contested his first election on a Congress ticket. Singh has already ruled out the possibility of contesting from a parliamentary seat other than Hisar. Bishnoi contested the Hisar Lok Sabha seat after the death of his father, former Chief Minister Chaudhary Bhajan Lal, in a by-election held in 2011. He defeated Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Jaiprakash of Congress on a Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) ticket. In 2014, Bishnoi lost the Lok Sabha elections to Dushyant Chautala under the BJP-HJC alliance. Prior to this, Bishnoi defeated Ajay Chautala and Surendra Singh (son of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal) from the Bhiwani Lok Sabha constituency in 2004. Brijendra Singh has been an MP on a BJP ticket since 2019. When asked about contesting Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, Kuldeep Bishnoi replied: “I am not looking for any possibilities in Rajasthan. Once our vote was for Congress, now I am trying to link it with BJP. I wish to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Hisar. Whatever order the rest of the party makes is valid. Undoubtedly, we are getting a lot of love from Rajasthan. We consider Rajasthan as our second home.” Regarding the alliance between Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewala, and Kiran Chowdhary, Bishnoi said that Congress has no future. “They will die fighting among themselves. Every man considers himself as CM. Former CM Bhupendra Hooda and Deepender Hooda consider themselves God. Bhupendra will soon be seen in jail. BJP will compete with Congress in Hisar. Because if people want to vote in Opposition then they have no option.” Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Kuldeep Bishnoi is set to hold two big rallies in Haryana and Rajasthan. One rally will be held in Hisar and the other in Rajasthan. He recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought dates for the two rallies. Bishnoi had also met Home Minister Shah in the past to propose that the Bishnoi community be considered a part of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
