Accusing the BJP of betraying him, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) president Kuldeep Bishnoi Thursday announced the end of his party's alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Haryana will elect a new assembly most probably in October.
"The BJP continued to betray me constantly. We tried to keep the alliance but (failed). We hoped they (BJP) will change but they did not. We are pulling out of this alliance," he said here.
"The BJP is taking corrupt and goonda leaders from other parties, especially the Congress. We could not have carried on with them in such circumstances.
"The entire party (BJP) is 'dhokhebaaz'. I cannot name one particular leader," an upset Bishnoi told reporters.
Bishnoi announced his party's decision to ally with the newly floated Jan Chetna Party of former union minister and ex-Congressman Venod Sharma.
More From This Section
The BJP, which allied with the HJC in 2011, was earlier ready to play second fiddle to the HJC.
BJP leaders like then president Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj, who worked out the alliance, had even publicly declared that Bishnoi would be the chief minister if the alliance was voted to power.
Both parties contested the Lok Sabha polls together. The BJP won seven seats in the state.
Later, the party declined to offer too many seats to HJC in the assembly elections, let alone making Bishnoi the chief minister.
State BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma said Bishnoi was responsible for breaking the alliance. "It is good he has broken it and shown us where he stands."
--Indo-Asian News Service
js/deb/mr