Bishnoi Sabha chief digs in his heels after Kuldeep removes him

Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, January 19

High drama was witnessed at a meeting of the Bishnoi Sabha here on Sunday. Congress Adampur MLA and sabha patron Kuldeep Bishnoi announced the removal of president Pradeep Beniwal during the meeting at the Bishnoi temple.

Hours later, he appointed Jagdish Kadwasra president at his residence.

As Bishnoi was leaving the venue, supporters of the factions led by Kuldeep Bishnoi and Pradeep Beniwal started shouting slogans in the favour of their respective leaders.

Beniwal continued to preside over the meeting amid slogan-shouting in his support at the temple. He termed the announcement by Bishnoi as illegal and claimed that he continued to be the president of the sabha.

He later left the temple, locked up the office of president and took away the keys with him.

A member of the sabha, Mandeep Bishnoi, condemned the incident. He said the process to remove the president from his post is illegal. Hence, Beniwal continues to hold the post. He stated that the announcement by Kuldeep Bishnoi has no legal basis and that he has tried to weaken the Bishnoi Sabha due to his vested political interests.

An aide of Kuldeep Bishnoi maintained the decision has been taken in view of the representation by over 500 members out of a total of 685 members of the sabha. These members wanted a change in president. He stated that the decision has been taken by due process as per the constitution of the sabha.

Sources said that Pradeep Beniwal was elected president in 2016 when he was a confidant of Kuldeep Bishnoi. He was re-elected in June 2019 after the completion of his three-year term. However, Beniwal invited the ire of Bishnoi after Beniwal joined the BJP during the Assembly elections.