By IANS
Chandigarh : Just days after they were accused by Congress leaders of cross voting in the presidential polls, former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal and his MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi announced Saturday that they would hold a rally at Rohtak, the hometown of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on Dec 2.
Addressing a press conference here, Bhajan Lal and his son said their future political plans would be revealed at this rally.
“This is not going to be a show of strength (against Hooda). Our aim is to highlight the plight of the public which is being ignored in Haryana,” Bhiwani MP Bishnoi said.
Bishnoi was earlier this year suspended by the Congress for anti-party activities as he had criticised the Hooda government.
The MP claimed that the rally at Rohtak would make it clear that people in Haryana still supported him.
Bhajan Lal, a sitting Congress legislator, has been bitter with the top Congress leadership after he was ignored for the post of chief minister despite leading the party to a resounding victory in the March 2005 assembly elections. Instead, the Congress chose Hooda, then a MP, to be the chief minister.
Though the Bhajan Lal camp in the ruling Congress has been actively campaigning against Hooda through Bishnoi, they have not taken any steps to walk out of the Congress and float a new party.
In recent months though, many Bhajan Lal loyalists have quit the Congress.
“I will invite Phool Chand Mullana (the new state Congress President) for the public rally since he is an old associate,” Bhajan Lal announced.
The Hooda government is mid-way through its five-year term in the state. Hooda loyalists have been seeking the ouster of Bishnoi and Bhajan Lal from the Congress.
A section of the ruling Congress leadership last month even accused Bhajan Lal’s elder son, Chander Mohan – who is the deputy chief minister in the Hooda government – of cross voting in the presidential poll.
Though Mohan denied the charge and even dragged Congress leaders to court, it is being seen as a move by the ruling Congress to oust Chander Mohan from the government.
“Recent developments concerning Chander Mohan are a conspiracy against him,” Bhajan Lal said.