Ahead of state polls, BJP MP from Rajasthan joins Congress
Jaipur, Nov 14 (IBNS): In another jolt to the saffron outfit ahead of the Rajasthan assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian from the state, Harish Chandra Meena, joined the Congress on Wednesday, media reports said.
Meena (64), a former Director General of Police, is a Minister of Parliament (MP) from Dausa. He had joined the BJP after quitting his service in 2014.
Meena joined the new political party in presence of veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot and state unit chief Sachin Pilot.
Earlier this week, Rajasthan Minister and BJP MLA Surendra Goyal had resigned from the political outfit after he was denied a ticket to contest the upcoming assembly elections.
Goyal, who is the Minister for Public Health Engineering Department in Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's cabinet, will contest from Jaitaran constituency as an independent candidate. The party's general secretary Kuldeep Dhankar and veteran leader Habibur Rehman also reportedly resigned from the party after they were denied tickets in the upcoming state polls.
Last month, former Union Minister and BJP veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra joined the Congress.
The Rajasthan polls are considered to be a litmus test for both the incumbent the BJP and the Congress, the latter being predicted to win the state, ahead of the 2019 General Elections.
The Lok Sabha elections will be held in few months' time and prior to the mega face-off, both the main political parties of the country are trying to wrest power in the states, which are going to polls in November and December.
Rajasthan will go to polls on December 7 and the results will be declared on 11th of the same month.
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