25 Congress leaders including close aide of Ashok Gehlot and 2 former ministers, switch over to BJP in Rajasthan

Jaipur, March 10 (IANS) – In a major political development, 25 Congress leaders in Rajasthan, including former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s close aide Lalchand Kataria, joined BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and state unit President C.P. Joshi on Sunday. Former MLAs Richpal Singh Mirdha and Vijaypal Singh Mirdha were among the Nagaur’s prominent Jat leaders who joined the ruling party.

Over half a dozen senior leaders, including three former ministers, confirmed their decision to switch to the BJP. Former minister Khiladi Lal Bairwa, known to be close to former deputy CM Sachin Pilot, and former Minister of State for Home Rajendra Yadav were also part of the group that joined the BJP.

Bairwa explained his move by stating, “I joined BJP considering the vision of PM Modi. I was the chairman of the SC Commission and kept urging CM Gehlot to give constitutional status to the commission for 1.5 years. The Congress considers SC-ST as its puppets, but BJP made a Dalit Law Minister, setting an example.”

The joining ceremony was attended by several BJP leaders, including Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Deputy CM Diya Kumari, Rajendra Rathore, Alka Gurjar, and Vijaya Rahatkar. Apart from the three former ministers and two Jat leaders, other leaders who switched to the BJP include Alok Beniwal, Rampal Sharma, Ramnarayan Kisan, Anil Vyas, Omkar Singh Chaudhary, Gopal Ram Kukna, Ashok Jangid, Priya Meghwal, Suresh Choudhary, Rajendra Parswal, Shaitan Singh Mehrada, Ramnarayan Jhajhra, Jagannath Burdak, Karamveer Choudhary, Kuldeep Dheva, Bachchu Singh Chaudhary, Ramlal Meena, Mahesh Sharma, Ranjeet Singh, and Madhusudan Sharma.

This political defection is seen as a significant blow to the Congress party in Rajasthan, especially considering that some of the leaders who joined BJP have been associated with the party for a long time. The move is expected to have implications on the political landscape of the state in the upcoming elections.