A day after his party Haryana Janhit Congress announced his name to fight from Karnal, former deputy chief minister Chander Mohan today decided to withdraw from the contest citing that Brahmins wanted a member of the community to be fielded from the parliamentary seat.
Mohan, who had previously held the position of Deputy Chief Minister in the Congress government in Haryana, told reporters in Karnal that he was taking back his name and had communicated this to his party.
"A delegation of the Brahmin leaders met me here and they felt that Karnal seat should be fought by a member of the community," Mohan said, adding that he had agreed to this.
At present, Karnal parliamentary seat is represented by Congress' Arvind Sharma, a Brahmin, who is seeking re-election. Karnal has traditionally been a Brahmin seat.
Sources said that a section of leaders of HJC's ally BJP were opposed to fielding of Mohan from the seat, who has been mired in controversy in the past.
Yesterday, HJC President and Hisar MP Kuldeep Bishnoi had announced at Hisar that Mohan, who is also his elder brother, would contest from Karnal Lok Sabha seat for the party.
While Bishnoi is seeking re-election from Hisar, Karnal is the only other seat which the HJC is contesting as the remaining eight seats are being fought by its ally BJP.
Earlier, Venod Sharma, former Union Minister and Ambala MLA, was set to join HJC and contest from Karnal after he quit Congress on March 5, but the plan was scuttled owing to stiff resistance by a section of BJP leaders who were opposed to his entry either in the saffron party or joining their ally.
Mohan, who had represented Kalka Assembly segment on four occasions, had found himself in thick of controversy a few years back when he had announced embracing Islam as Chand Mohammad to marry a former law officer from Haryana, late Anuradha Bali alias Fiza Mohammed.
At that time, he was already married with two children.
Before Fiza's mysterious death in 2012, Mohan had separated from her and returned to his Bishnoi fold as the Bhajan Lal clan and his community had ostracised him.
Mohan's father and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal had floated the HJC in December 2007 after severing ties with the Congress.
Lok Sabha polls in Haryana are due to be held on April 10.
