AAP fields former BJP leader Satender Singh in Adampur bypoll next month

The Aam Aadmi Party has decided to field Satender Singh, who recently switched over from the BJP, for the Adampur assembly bypoll next month, senior leader Sushil Gupta said on Friday.Singh joined the Aam Aadmi Party last month in Hisar in the presence party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.After joining the AAP, he had said he is influenced by the partys ideology and that he will work for the development of Adampur.The AAP is the first among the major parties to announce their candidate for the bypoll, necessitated by the resignation of Kuldeep Bishnoi as the Congress MLA.

The Aam Aadmi Party has decided to field Satender Singh, who recently switched over from the BJP, for the Adampur assembly bypoll next month, senior leader Sushil Gupta said on Friday.

Singh joined the Aam Aadmi Party last month in Hisar in the presence party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

After joining the AAP, he had said he is influenced by the party's ideology and that he will work for the development of Adampur.

The AAP is the first among the major parties to announce their candidate for the bypoll, necessitated by the resignation of Kuldeep Bishnoi as the Congress MLA. Bishnoi had joined the BJP on August 4.

The bypoll is going to be a litmus test for Bishnoi, the younger son of former Haryana chief minister the late Bhajan Lal, as the seat has been a family stronghold for the past five decades.

While the BJP is yet to announce its candidate, Bishnoi had on Thursday said the people of Adampur want his son Bhavya to contest and he has conveyed the sentiment to the party.

Satender Singh, originally from village Nayoli Khurd (Hisar), had unsuccessfully contested from Adampur seat in 2014 on a Congress ticket. He had later joined the BJP. In 2014, Bishnoi was a leader of Haryana Janhit Congress, which he merged with the Congress in 2016 as he returned to the party fold. He left it again two months ago.

''Now, the contest will be between Adampur's son (Satender) who lives here and is available when people need him, and BJP's Kuldeep Bishnoi, who comes to Adampur only for a picnic and is rarely seen among the people of his constituency,'' Gupta, who is AAP's Haryana affairs in-charge, told reporters in Hisar.

Good governance, solving people's problems, good education and health facilities, these are among the poll issues which the party will take to people in the bypoll, he said.

AAP senior leaders Anurag Dhanda and Ashok Tanwar were also present when Gupta spoke to reporters.

During his visit to Hisar last month, AAP national convener Kejriwal had said, ''The people of Adampur want to get rid of a family here. The people of Adampur also want development in the area.'' Kejriwal had launched his party's 'Make India No. 1' campaign from Hisar.

The bypoll will be held on November 3 and the results will be declared on November 6.

Sushil Gupta said the party conducted a survey in Adampur and everyone said Satender Singh as a strong candidate. ''After this, we sent the report to the Political Affairs Committee of the party. The committee approved his name,'' said Gupta.

On a question on SYL canal, Sushil Gupta said that there is a shortage of water in the country and every state needs this resource. ''Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal, Gujarat need water. It is the duty of the central government to provide due share of water to every state. It is the duty of the Prime Minister. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had offered to the PM that if they don't have a solution, he will suggest one,'' said Gupta.

Gupta said his party will win the bypoll, and it will act as a gateway to 2024 Haryana Assembly elections.

When told that Adampur is considered a stronghold of the Bhajan Lal family, Satender Singh said the 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.'' PTI SUN Cor VSD TIR TIR

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)