Lok Sabha Polls 2019: Rebel MLAs make a beeline to join BJP in Haryana

CHANDIGARH: Rebels from different opposition parties are making a beeline to join the saffron camp ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana.

On Monday, INLD MLA Kehar Rawat from Palwal assembly constituency joined the party in the presence of BJP national general secretary Anil Jain and Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala at the party headquarters in New Delhi. Last week, another MLA from INLD, Ranbir Singh Gangwa, also joined the party.

With this, the number of rebel leaders who have joined the BJP within the last fortnight has risen to three –– former MP, Arvind Sharma from Sonepat, who is among the likely candidates for the coming polls, had also defected. These defections augur well for the BJP and are reminiscent of the pre-2014 poll scenario when a strong Modi wave had lured senior leaders from the Congress and INLD to its fold.


The defections also suit the BJP’s poll strategy for Haryana as the party is likely to replace six of the eight candidates it had fielded in the last LS polls.

“The new faces will neutralise the anti-incumbency factor in constituencies where the performance has not been satisfactory,” a party worker said.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had earlier indicated that several Congress leaders were also keen on switching over to the BJP.

To fuel the defections, the BJP is likely to field former two-time Congress MP from Karnal constituency, Arvind Sharma, in the LS polls. Being a Brahmin face, Sharma may help the BJP repeat the pre-poll scenario of 2014 when other senior Congress MPs also defected to the party and ensured an emphatic win.