Cong ousts rebel Kuldeep Bishnoi

NEW DELHI: Rebel Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi, along with his father Bhajan Lal, reacted to his suspension by launching a diatribe against party chief Sonia Gandhi in what could be a prelude to the launch of a regional outfit.
Bishnoi stuck to his criticism of Sonia for not visiting Gohana after the killings of Dalits and Gurgaon, when workers were lathicharged there, signalling a defiance which can soon lead to a point of no return.His father, the wily former CM of Haryana, sent out the same signal by announcing his plan to hold a rally which, by all indications, would turn into a platform for an assault on the leadership and Haryana CM B S Hooda.
Bhajan Lal, in fact, rubbed it in by announcing that Congress dissident Natwar Singh would be among those participating in the rally. Announcing the suspension, chief of Congress' disciplinary panel, defence minister A K Antony, said he was left with no choice because of Bishnoi's refusal to heed the warnings.
The one-page letter said the MP had crossed all limits. “You refuse to be disciplined," the communication said. The feud is a fallout of the leadership's decision to prefer Hooda over Bhajan Lal after the party's sweep of the assembly polls. While Bhajan Lal decided not to put a spoke in leadership's works, he couldn't reconcile to the snub despite the appointment of his other son, Chandar Mohan, as the deputy CM.
Bishnoi carried on his father's fight by sniping at Hooda over the Gurgaon lathicharge and the Reliance SEZ, skillfully putting populist gloss over partisan pique. Leadership saw his action as a challenge, and didn't waver from the view when it signalled a course correction over the SEZ policy. While Bishnoi's suspension suggests Bhajan Lal could have been pushed out of the frame for good, it can lead to some turmoil in the state unit. The former Haryana CM has support at all levels.
"Congress is no longer with the aam admi," he said and claimed the decision had been influenced by a big business house. What finally hustled party panel into action was Sonia's observation that indiscipline could have been one of the causes of the defeats in Punjab and Uttarakhand.