New Delhi: Former Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with his wife Renuka Bishnoi in the presence of senior party leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, on Thursday.


Inducting him into the party, CM Khattar noted that their young son is also in politics and said the BJP welcomes the family. He said that Bishnoi (52) also mentors an association of the Bishnoi community and added that his presence in the BJP will strengthen it in Haryana and the neighbouring state.


"He has joined the BJP today, and I hope the BJP will also begin growing inside him very soon," the chief minister said.


A four-time MLA and a two-time MP, Bishnoi lauded PM Narendra Modi as the "best" Indian prime minister and praised CM Khattar for keeping a "spotless" reputation despite being the chief minister for over eight years.


Hailing Modi as a "great prime minister", Bishnoi said that it would not be wrong to describe him as "India's best prime minister" who always thinks about the country and the poor's welfare. He also met BJP president JP Nadda after joining the saffron party.


“I would like to suggest to them (Congress party) that the Congress of Indira ji & Rajiv ji, their ideology is something from which the party has completely gone astray. If they've to face BJP once again, they will have to revive that ideology,” news agency ANI quoted Bishnoi as saying after his induction.


“I wanted to join BJP for a long time now, still I wanted to give them one more chance as I had been a Congress man for a long time. But what can one do if Congress is in a self-destruction mode,” he added.


Notably, Bishnoi was expelled by the Congress for voting for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls and had resigned from the Haryana Assembly on Wednesday ahead of his new political innings. His wife is also a former MLA.


As per report, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, too, attended the induction ceremony, along with some state MLAs and a good number of Bishnoi's supporters.


Praising Bishnoi’s decision, Haryana BJP chief Om Prakash Dhankar said that more people in the Congress' state unit will find it difficult to remain in the party in a stifling work culture.


“Bishnoi and all those who have joined the BJP with him will be given responsibility according to their seniority,” Dhankar said.