Congress denies Anna impact in Hisar
October 17th, 2011 - 7:42 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) The Congress Monday maintained there was “no impact” of Anna Hazare’s campaign against the party in the Hisar parliamentary by-poll.
Congress general secretary B.K. Hari Prasad said “sympathy for Kuldeep Bishnoi’s father and former chief minister Bhajan Lal and the development work done by him” were reasons for Congress nominee Jai Prakash losing his security deposit, adding “there was no impact of Anna’s campaign”.
“Caste factor played a role. Besides there was no extra effort from the party to get the seat,” Hari Prasad told IANS, adding “Team Anna is shining on borrowed feather.”
Congress spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary said: “It was only a matter of strategy for Team Anna to chose that seat, I still think (Arvind) Kejriwal should have contested the seat. It was his own village.”
“I am interested in knowing if Team Anna will issue a certificate of non-corruption to Mr Bishnoi and if they will take accountability for it.”
Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) won the Hisar by-election securing 355,541 votes in a dominantly three-cornered contest. Congress candidate Jai Prakash lost his security deposit, polling 149,785 votes.
Ahead of the bypoll Oct 13, Anna Hazare had appealed Hisar voters via a video message to defeat the Congress, saying the party was non-committal on passing the Lokpal bill in the winter session of parliament.
Senior Congress leader and union minister M. Veerappa Moily, speaking in Kolkata, termed the Hisar result as a “defeat” for Anna Hazare, saying if corruption had been the issue the result would have been different.
“The big question is whether the cause of Anna Hazare has been served by the result of the election. That is the question he has to answer, people have to answer,” Moily told mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme.
“If corruption was an issue, the Congress candidate should have won. That means it is not victory of Anna Hazare, rather it is his defeat.”
Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the party would be reviewing its loss in Hisar.
Mukherjee told reporters here: “Party’s loss in elections is always a sad thing. And we shall have to analyse why we have lost the by-election.”
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- In Anna wave, Congress, Hooda have back to wall - Oct 11, 2011
- By-poll results Monday; all eyes on Hisar amid Hazare's 'maun vrat' - Oct 16, 2011
- Bishnoi races towards victory in Hisar, Congress third - Oct 17, 2011
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Tags: anna hazare, arvind kejriwal, caste, chief minister, committal, congress candidate, congress leader, general secretary, haryana, hjc, kuldeep bishnoi, lal, prakash, prasad, renuka chaudhary, security deposit, union minister, veerappa, video message, winter session