Haryana: Independent MLA Jai Parkash extends support to Surjewala in Jind bypoll

Independent legislator Jai Parkash Friday extended his support to Congress nominee Randeep Surjewala for the January 28 Jind assembly by-election in Haryana.

Jai Parkash, a former Congress parliamentarian from Hisar and former union minister, made the announcement after meeting senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel at his residence here.

Sources said Jai Parkash is likely to return to the Congress fold before the assembly election in Haryana, due in October this year.

They said he is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi on January 22 or 23.

"I have decided to campaign for Congress nominee Surjewala for the Jind bypoll. I will be campaigning from tomorrow for him in Jind," Jai Parkash, who has a sizeable following in his native place Jind, told PTI.

He had quit the Congress before the 2014 assembly elections and contested as an Independent from Kalayat constituency.

Surjewala, a sitting legislator from Kaithal, was made the Congress nominee for the January 28 Jind by-election, where the Congress is striving hard to stage a victory ahead of the assembly election later this year.