CHANDIGARH: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha from Haryana and prominent SC face of the saffron party Krishan Lal Panwar resigned today from the upper house as he has been elected MLA from Israna in Panipat and is eyeing for a cabinet berth in the new state cabinet which is to be sworn-in at Panchkula on October 17.
Meanwhile, the party had appointed Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav as central observers for the selection of the new leader of the BJP legislature party in Haryana.
Former minister and six-time MLA Panwar submitted his resignation to Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar in New Delhi on Monday.
He was specially picked up by the party to contest recent assembly polls from Insrana a reserved assembly segment.
He is a front-runner for a cabinet ministerial berth in the new state cabinet which is to be sworn in at Panchkula on October 17. Panwar was a minister during the 2014-19 BJP Government led by then-chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He was later sent to Rajya Sabha in 2022 by the saffron party in a bid to woo the crucial SC vote bank.
With the resignation of Panwar from Rajya Sabha, lobbying has picked up among senior BJP leaders for nomination to the Upper House from Haryana.
After the first-ever electoral defeat of the Bishnoi family from their Adampur assembly stronghold, BJP leader Kuldeep Bishnoi is lobbying for a Rajya Sabha nomination. His son Bhavya Bishnoi was defeated by Chander Prakash of Congress by a narrow margin of 1,268 votes. This defeat marked the end of a long-standing Bishnoi family legacy, which had won the Adampur seat consecutively since 1968. While among the other potential candidates including former Karnal MP Sanjay Bhatia. The trader community, too, is aspiring for the seat.
At present out of five Rajya Sabha MPs from the state, the BJP has three members Subhash Barala, Ram Chander Jangra and Kiran Chaudhry. An Independent MP Kartikeya was also elected with the support of the saffron party. While Deepender Hooda of Congress who was elected from Rohtak in Lok Sabha had resigned from the Rajya Sabha as he was earlier a member of the upper house and that slot is also vacant.
Meanwhile, as per a letter issued by the saffron party’s national general secretary Arun Singh the party had appointed Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav as central observers for the selection of the new leader of the BJP legislature party in Haryana. The appointment of the observers highlights the BJP’s intent to ensure that the selection process for the new Haryana BJP legislature leader is seamless.
Sources say the central observers are scheduled to meet with Haryana’s 48 newly elected BJP legislators on October 16, one day before the oath-taking ceremony in Panchkula.
drawal of support by BJP citing security concerns.