Rajasthan: Several Congress leaders including 2 former ministers join BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], March 10 : In a big jolt to the Congress party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, several Congress leaders, including former ministers Rajendra Yadav and Lal Chand Kataria, joined the BJP in the presence of Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma, Rajasthan Deputy CM Diya Kumari and Rajasthan BJP President CP Joshi.
Former Congress MLAs Richpal Mirdha, Vijaypal Mirdha, Khiladi Bairwa, former independent MLA Alok Beniwal, former state spokesperson of Congress Rajasthan Suresh Chaudhary, Rampal Sharma and Riju Jhunjhunwala, among other leaders, also joined the ruling party in the state

Speaking at the event, Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma said, "I welcome those who have joined (BJP) after watching our ideology, PM Narendra Modi's work and BJP's trust. I assure you that we will not let the spirit with which you have joined BJP under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi be broken... This is the time of India's development."
Earlier, on February 19, senior Congress leader and former minister Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya, who hails from Banswara district in Rajasthan, had also left Congress and joined the BJP.
The BJP has made Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya its candidate from Banswara Lok Sabha constituency.
Former state president of the Rajasthan BJP and convenor of the BJP Joining Committee, Dr. Arun Chaturvedi, said that the beginning was made with Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya and today the Congress leaders who have joined the BJP are the first step in the same chain, Many leaders will join the BJP in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, Tika Ram Jully said, "Only those who are leaving Congress can tell the reason, whether they're leaving out of fear or greed. Be it position within the party or respect, Congress has given them everything.
"If the leaders are leaving the party, the party has no loss. It will be at a loss only when its Karyakartas will leave it, but Congress' Karykartas are strong and they know what to do. BJP talks about 'Congress Mukt Bharat' but keeps adding people from the Congress. Where is BJP's ideology left then?... They (BJP) talk about '370 paar' but they're in fear if they can win even 272 seats..." Tika Ram Jully added.
On March 3, the former Congress leader, Mool Chand Meena, rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party
"Impressed by the efficient leadership and public welfare policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Mool Chand Meena rejoined the BJP family today in the presence of State President CP Joshi in the BJP state office," the Rajasthan BJP posted on X.
In 2018, Mool Chand Meena quit the BJP to join Congress and is the former Zila Pramukh of Jaipur.
After quitting the Congress party, Mool Chand Meena said that he was impressed by the efficient leadership and public welfare policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Setting the pace ahead of its rivals, the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
In the first list of 195 candidates, the BJP included 28 women, 47 youth, 27 Scheduled Castes, 18 Scheduled Tribes and 57 OBCs. The party announced 51 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, 24 in Madhya Pradesh, 15 each in Gujarat and Rajasthan, 20 for West Bengal, 12 in Kerala, 11 each for Assam, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, nine in Telangana, five for Delhi, two for Jammu and Kashmir, two for Arunachal Pradesh, one for Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Daman and Diu also.
In Delhi, it has decided to field only Manoj Tiwari, the sitting Lok Sabha member from northeast Delhi, and Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi has been replaced with young face Basuri Swaraj, daughter of late BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj, from New Delhi; former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has been chosen to contest from Vidisha constituency in the state; and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from Kota.
With Prime Minister Modi urging senior ministers from Rajya Sabha to contest Lok Sabha elections, the party fielded Union ministers Bhupender Yadav from Alwar in Rajasthan, Mansukh Mandaviya from Porbandar and Parshottam Rupala from Rajkot (Gujarat), Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Thiruvananthapuram, and V Muraleedharan from Attingal constituency. Another Rajya Sabha member and national vice president of the BJP Saroj Pande will contest from the Korba Lok Sabha constituency in Chhattisgarh. Union Minister Rameshwar Teli is replaced by Cabinet minister and former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Dibrugarh (Assam) constituency.
Union Ministers who are being fielded from their sitting seats are Gajendra Shekhawat in Jodhpur, Smriti Irani in Amethi, S P Singh Baghel in Agra, Sanjeev Balyan in Muzaffarnagar, Ajay Mishra Teni in Kheri, Arjun Ram Meghwal in Bikaner, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in Fatehpur, Subhash Sarkar in Bankura and Nishit Pramanik in Cooch Behar.