Several Raj Cong leaders, including former ministers, join ruling BJP

Several Congress leaders of Rajasthan, including former ministers Rajendra Yadav and Lal Chand Kataria, joined BJP on Sunday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Former Congress MLAs Ricchpal Mirdha, Vijaypal Mirdha and Khiladi Bairwa, former independent MLA Alok Beniwal, former state Congress chief Seva Dal Suresh Chaudhary, Rampal Sharma and Riju Jhunjhunwala, among other leaders, also joined BJP, which recently came to power in Rajasthan. Alok Beniwal is the son of the former governor of Gujarat Kamla Beniwal.

Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president CP Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at their state headquarters in Jaipur. Addressing a gathering, Kataria said he joined BJP because the party understands the pain and suffering of farmers, the poor and the common man. It was CM Shama who worked to resolve the issue of the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project, he said.


Bairwa, who was the chairman of the SC Commission during the previous Congress rule, hit out at former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, saying: "The then CM considered SC people his slaves." Kataria and Yadav were ministers in the Gehlot government.