Former Jaipur mayor, two ex-Congress MLAs join BJP ahead of polls in Rajasthan

Former Jaipur mayor Jyoti Khandelwal, who was considered close to Congress leader Sachin Pilot, is likely to be fielded by the BJP from the Kishanpol seat in Jaipur

Former Jaipur mayor Jyoti Khandelwal and two former Rajasthan Congress MLAs- Chandrashekhar Baid and Nandlal Poonia - joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state, scheduled for November 25.

Rajasthan BJP incharge Arun Singh, the party’s state president CP Joshi and leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore welcomed the former Congress leaders and ex bureaucrats to the saffron party in Jaipur on Saturday.

Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Kesar Singh Shekhawat and Bhim Singh and former president of the JNVU university in Jodhpur also joined the BJP in the presence of state BJP president CP Joshi, state incharge Arun Singh, and leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore in Jaipur.

Khandelwal, who was considered close to Congress leader Sachin Pilot, was also the Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Jaipur in 2019. She said she was feeling sidelined in the Congress and decided to join the BJP. She is likely to be fielded by the BJP from the Kishanpol seat in Jaipur.

Welcoming them to the party, Joshi said the BJP family is growing in the state.

“People in Rajasthan want to ask the chief minister (Ashog Gehlot) what happened to the guarantee of loan waiver you gave to the farmers, the guarantee of women’s security, the guarantee of development in Rajasthan and the guarantee of controlling inflation. People have stopped believing in the guarantee of the Congress and they believe that the only guarantee is that of Modi,” he said.

Joshi also condemned Gehlot’s statement comparing the ED to dogs. He said the CM is insulting government employees who are working to uncover corruption and give justice to lakhs of youth.

Leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore said, “The Congress leaders said they did not want to continue in the party that does politics of insult and deceit. They said they want to join the BJP to work to bring a double engine government in Rajasthan,” said Rathore.

Rathore accused Gehlot of annoucning guarantees in violation of the model code of conduct. “Under the guidelines of the model code of conduct, the government cannot make new announcements, but the Congress is continuously violating the model code and trying to influence the election,” he said.

There was no immediate reaction from the Congress.