Rejecting Team Anna's claim of influencing the outcome in the Hisar by-election, Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Parkash Chautala on Tuesday said that people voted against the Congress to vent their anger against the ruling party.
"Team Anna's claim of taking credit is wrong. People voted against the Congress to vent their anger against the ruling party. They were fed up by the misrule of Congress at the Centre and the state," he told a press conference.
Chautala, however, said the INLD will support Team Anna in his fight against corruption and its demand for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
"We are ready to support anyone against corruption," he said.
Seeking to take credit over the verdict in Hisar, where Team Anna campaigned vigorously against the ruling party, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare had said, "The Congress should take a cue after its defeat in the Hisar by-poll and pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session."
Chautala also demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on moral grounds.
"Hooda camped at Hissar for the entire campaigning period. Despite this, the Congress could not save the security deposit of its nominee. Accepting moral defeat, he (Hooda) should resign," he said.
Terming his party's drubbing as a "technical" defeat, the former Haryana chief minister said, "Technically we lost but vote wise, we have won as our vote share increased to 3,49,618 from 2,41,493 in the 2009 election, which is an increase of around 41 per cent."
"The Congress was third in all the nine assembly segments whereas INLD nominee Ajay Singh Chautala finished at the top in four and at second position in the remaining five assembly segments," he said.
