The BJP on Saturday announced party leader Kuldeep Bishnoi's son Bhavya as its candidate for the next month's assembly bypoll from Adampur, considered a family pocket borough.
The bypoll was necessitated after Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as a Congress MLA in August and quit the party along with his son. Both later joined the BJP.
The bypoll will be a litmus test for Kuldeep Bishnoi, the younger son of former chief minister the late Bhajan Lal, as the seat has been a family stronghold for the past five decades.
"Heartfelt gratitude to all the top leadership of the party for making Bhavya Bishnoi the candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party in the Adampur by-election," Kuldeep Bishnoi tweeted in Hindi soon after his son's name was announced.
The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Satender Singh, who was earlier with the BJP. The Congress is yet to name a candidate.
Kuldeep Bishnoi said the people of Adampur will vote for the BJP candidate and further strengthen the bond which his family has with the people of the constituency over generations.
Bhavya Bishnoi thanked the party leadership for reposing faith in him. He said he will try his best to live up to the expectation of people and his party.
He described the people of Adampur as his family. "I am sure Adampur will win this time as usual".
After joining the BJP, Bishnoi had made it amply clear he wanted his son to be fielded in the bypoll.
On Thursday, he had said the people of Adampur want his son to contest the bypoll and that he has conveyed the sentiment to the party.
Bhavya Bishnoi had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Hisar.
The bypolls will be held on November 3 and the counting of votes will take place on November 6. The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Satender Singh, who was earlier with the BJP. Singh joined the AAP in Hisar in the presence of AAP Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last month.
The Congress is yet to declare its candidate.
The bypoll is going to be a litmus test for Bishnoi, younger son of former chief minister late Bhajan Lal, as the seat has been the family's bastion for the past five decades.
Bishnoi had earlier said, "I have held an extensive tour of Adampur and like before the people are showering their love and blessings. After a gap of 26 years, we (the Bhajan Lal family) are fighting this poll while being in the government. And people know that development works will be further accelerated if BJP wins." Bishnoi (54) had joined the BJP on August 4, nearly two months after he was expelled by the Congress from all party positions for defying its whip and voting for the ruling party-backed candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan said that in Adampur, it will be a direct fight between Congress and BJP.
"Adampur was a stronghold of Congress, is and will remain so in future as well," said Bhan.
Hitting out at Kuldeep Bishnoi, Bhan had on Friday said, "The way Bishnoi betrayed the party and people of Adampur, people will teach him a lesson. Congress will win with a good margin of votes".
AAP's Satender when asked that Adampur is considered as a stronghold of the Bhajan Lal family, had said that AAP has always stormed what are considered as bastions.
"We have seen it in Delhi and in Punjab too where stalwarts from rival outfits had to bite the dust," he said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
