Just a day after five prominent Jat leaders of Congress joined BJP, the Congress has inducted BJP's sitting MP Rahul Kaswan, a prominent Jat leader who had been representing Churu in Loksabha for the last two terms but was denied ticket this time. Annoyed with this Rahul joined Congress in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on Monday.
Kaswan likely to be given a ticket from the Churu seat
Rahul Kaswan is likely to be given a ticket from the Churu seat in the first list of Congress.
After joining the party Rahul Kaswan said that while being in BJP, he realised that the voice of the farmers was being ignored, so he joined Congress. "In Congress, I will continue to work to strengthen the people of my constituency," said Kaswan hinting at his confirmed Congress ticket from Churu.
Before this, he announced his resignation from the BJP and thanked BJP leadership for its support. ' Due to political reasons, at this very moment today, I am resigning from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the post of Member of Parliament. I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji and party president JP Nadda ji for allowing me to serve the Churu Lok Sabha family for 10 years,' posted Kaswan on social media on Monday.
Tug-of-war situation between Congress and BJP for Rajasthan's Jat leaders
A tug-of-war kind of situation between Congress and BJP can be seen for Jat leaders in Rajasthan. Kaswan in a meeting with his supporters on Friday had hinted at joining the Congress and at the same time, the Congress is also in talks with another Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal for an alliance on 1-2 Loksabha seats.
While BJP has inducted five prominent Jat leaders of Congress including the former cabinet minister of the Gehlot government Lal Chand Kataria, former MLAs Richpal and Vijay Mirdha from the famous Mirdha family of Nagour, Alok Beniwal, a former MLA and son of Congress veteran Kamla Beniwal and president of Congress Sewadal Suresh Choudhary.
The sources in BJP said that the timing of this induction of Jat leaders of Congress in BJP is important as these leaders have been in touch with BJP since the assembly elections but party leadership was not clearing it. Now to give a message before the Loksabha elections and to counter the switching over of Rahul Kaswan and the possibilities of Hanuman Beniwal's alliance with Congress, the BJP leadership gave the green signal.
Notably, the Jats are the biggest vote bank with around 12 per cent of the population in Rajasthan. The community dominates around 9-10 Loksabha seats. The BJP in its first list of 15 candidates has given tickets to five Jats.
