In its bid to shake up the state’s ruling Congress party ahead of Assembly elections scheduled for later this year, the Rajasthan BJP on Monday inducted four leaders into the party fold, including the son of a former chief minister. of Congress and the nephew of former President Pratibha Patil.
Om Prakash Pahadia, son of former Rajasthan CM and Congress leader the late Jagannath Pahadia, and Vijendra Singh Shekhawat, nephew of former President Patil, joined the saffron party in the presence of BJP Rajasthan chief Arun Singh and the state unit chairman CP Joshi.
The other two who joined the BJP are Ashok Verma, a Bahujan Samaj Festival leader and former IAS officer Chandra Mohan Meena.
The four leaders were introduced to the media at a press conference led by Singh and Joshi.
Singh told the media: “Individuals have influence over their communities and have worked in the political arena. They join the BJP after being concerned about Congressional misrule and (disillusioned with) the failed policies of the Ashok Gehlot government; they join the BJP under the leadership of the Prime Minister. Narendra Modi.”
Stating that people are “continually joining the BJP” in the state, Singh said it can be inferred from this that Congress is about to end and that people have “lost faith” in the Gehlot government.
Singh also accused the government of not doing any work during the last four and a half years of his tenure.
The late Jagannath Pahadia has been the only politician from the Dalit community to have become the Prime Minister of Rajasthan. Pahadia, who later became governor, was the prime minister of Rajasthan in 1980-1981 and was considered close to the late Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi.
Om Prakash Pahadia had unsuccessfully contested the 2013 Assembly election for the Weir constituency in his home district of Bharatpur. He was denied a ticket in the 2018 Assembly polls: from the seat, Congress had fielded Bhajanlal Jatav, who won the election and is currently a minister in Gehlot’s government.
Shekhawat had been in Congress for a long time.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.