Major blow to Congress in Rajasthan as several party leaders quit ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Several Congress leaders in Rajasthan, including former ministers Rajendra Yadav and Lal Chand Kataria, joined the BJP on Sunday (March 10) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Former Congress MLAs Ricchpal Mirdha, Vijaypal Mirdha and Khiladi Bairwa, former independent MLA Alok Beniwal, former state Congress Seva Dal chief Suresh Chaudhary, Rampal Sharma and Riju Jhunjhunwala among other leaders also joined the ruling party in the state.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president CP Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at its state headquarters in Jaipur.

Aides of Gehlot, Pilot quit

Kataria was the agriculture minister in the previous Congress government and was known for his proximity to Ashok Gehlot. He was also a Union minister of state in the previous UPA government.

Former state home minister Rajendra Yadav also joined the BJP. Yadav’s company and two of his sons have faced ED raids in the Poshahar scam. He has also been heading the party unit in Jaipur (rural), the Lok Sabha seat which was held by Olympian Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for two terms. However, the BJP may consider Yadav for the constituency as Rathore fought the recent assembly elections and became a minister in Rajasthan.

Former MLA and influential leader in the Marwar belt Richpal Mirdha and his son and former MLA Vijaypal Mirdha also joined the saffron camp. Richpal represented Degana assembly segment for four consecutive terms from 1990 to 2008. Another member of Mirdha family, Jyoti Mirdha, had joined the BJP last year. Jyoti was the Congress MP from Nagaur constituency from 2009 to 2014. The BJP has fielded her this time from the same Lok Sabha segment.

Khiladi Lal Bairwa, said to be close to Sachin Pilot, also bid adieu to Congress and joined the BJP. Bairwa, who was the chairman of the SC Commission during the previous Congress regime, hit out at former CM Gehlot. “The then-CM considered SC people his slaves,” he alleged.

Alok Beniwal, son of veteran Congress leader Kamla Beniwal, who was made Gujarat governor, also joined the BJP. He was not given the Congress ticket from Shahpura in 2018 and he emerged victorious while contesting as an Independent. He extended support to the Congress government over the next five years but was not given the ticket in 2023.

May get BJP ticket

The BJP may field some of these prominent faces in the Lok Sabha polls, as the party is yet to announce its candidates on 10 out of 25 seats in Rajasthan. The party has already fielded former Congress leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya from Banswara constituency.

Considered as the Congress’ influential tribal face, Malviya joined the BJP last month. A four-time MLA and a CWC member, Malviya was upset at not being appointed the Leader of Opposition after the Congress’ defeat in the assembly elections last year. He also served as a minister twice in the Congress regimes in the state. In 2020, Malviya's name surfaced in an FIR related to the attempt to topple the Ashok Gehlot government.

Gehlot slams deserters

Meanwhile, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has hit out at the leaders, who are leaving Congress in the party’s difficult time instead of strengthening it.

In a post on X, Gehlot stated, “The leaders who are leaving the Congress were recognised by the Congress, made Union Ministers, State Ministers, placed on big positions in the party, but in difficult times for the party, they are leaving the party and running away.”

“Many people are saying that they are under pressure from central agencies and hence are joining the BJP. This is not the time to bow down to any pressure but to save democracy and fight for the future of the country,” added Gehlot.

“We should take inspiration from the Gandhi family. Rahul Gandhi and his kin were harassed by the ED (Enforcement Directorate) for many days on the pretext of questioning, his Lok Sabha membership was taken away, but they were facing every pressure strongly,” he said.

Discontent brewing

Interestingly, while the BJP may have wooed various Congress leaders to join them, resentment is brewing among some of its sitting MPs who were denied the party ticket.

The party dropped five of its sitting MPs – Rahul Kaswan (Churu), Devji Patel (Jalore-Sirohi), Ranjeeta Koli (Bharatpur) and Arjunlal Meena (Udaipur), and Kanakmal Katara (Banswara) – when it released its first list of 195 candidates for Lok Sabha polls a few days back.

Churu’s two-time MP Rahul Kaswan came out in the open against the party’s decision to deny him ticket this time. He vent his ire through his messages on social media platforms amid speculations that he may join the Congress. The BJP has fielded paralympic javelin thrower Devendra Jhajhariya from Churu. Sources said he was dropped from the BJP list for his alleged role in the defeat of senior BJP leader Rajendra Rathore in the Rajasthan assembly elections last year.

But it was not the Churu MP alone who came out against the BJP leadership. Two-time former MP from Jodhpur, Jaswant Bishnoi, has also come out with a series of cryptic tweets after he found himself out of contention for the election. The BJP has fielded Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Jodhpur.