Congress In Self-Destruction Mode, Rahul Gandhi's Padyatra Is To Save His Own Reputation: Kuldeep Bishnoi

In sharp remarks, Former Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi said he did not want to commit "political suicide" by remaining with the grand old party.

New Delhi: Former Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi on Thursday said that the grand old party is in "self-destruction mode" and has no future. The comment came as he reached a polling booth to cast his vote in the ongoing Adampur Assembly constituency bypoll in Haryana. Earlier this year, Bishnoi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in August after being expelled from Congress.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Bishnoi said, "Congress is in self-destruction mode. It would remain in the number two spot, but BJP would win the bypoll."

Kuldeep Bishnoi's son Bhawya Bishnoi is contesting the bypoll in the Adampur constituency.

"If Rahul Gandhi wants to do political suicide, he can, I cannot do that by being in Congress. Congress has no political future. Rahul Gandhi is conducting the padyatra (Bharat Jodo Yatra) to save his own reputation," Kuldeep Bishnoi remarked, as quoted by ANI. 

The BJP leader also attacked former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda alleging that Hooda talks about Dalits, but he is anti-Dalit. "Everybody knows what happened with Dalit leaders Kumari Selja and Ashok Tanwar. I wanted to be the Congress chief in Haryana, if I were made so, the results for Congress would have been good," he said.

As AAP candidate Satyendra Singh is in the fray, Bishnoi claimed that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party would not be able to make routes as it is "indulged in corruption".

"Kejriwal comes to Haryana and talks about corruption, schools, and pollution. Whereas the pollution is at its peak in Delhi. AAP is indulged in corruption, so they would not be able to win here," he said, attacking the Delhi Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, the Congress candidate in the Adampur Assembly constituency bypoll, Jaiprakash JP responded to Bishnoi's allegation saying that the party made a Dalit the state president. "Haryana has nearly 22 per cent Dalits. BJP leaders cannot go to their doorsteps to seek votes. Congress has made a Dalit the Haryana party chief," ANI quoted him as saying. 

The voting for Assembly by-elections in seven vacant seats spread across the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh is underway.

The seven Assembly constituencies where the bypolls are taking place include 166-Andheri East from Maharashtra, 47-Adampur from Haryana, 93-Munugode from Telangana, 139-Gola Gokranath from Uttar Pradesh and 46-Dhamnagar from Odisha.

The BJP is in a fierce contest with regional parties such as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the Assembly polls in the aforementioned constituencies. 

(With ANI Inputs)