Former Cong ministers, ex-MLAs join BJP in Rajasthan ahead of LS polls

Several Congress leaders in Rajasthan, including former ministers Rajendra Yadav and Lal Chand Kataria, joined the 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 ang Riju Jhunjhunwala among other leaders also joined the ruling party in the state.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president C P Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at its state headquarters here.

Kataria and Yadav were ministers in the previous Congress government headed by Ashok Gehlot. Kataria was also a Union minister of state in the previous UPA government.

Ricchpal Mirdha is the uncle of former Congress MP Jyoti Mirdha, who joined the BJP ahead of the 2023 assembly elections.

Jyoti Mirsha has been named as the BJP's candidate from Nagaur for the Lok Sabha elections. Vijaypal Mirdha is Ricchpal Mirdha's son.

The Mirdha family is considered politically influential in the Jat-dominated Nagaur and nearby areas.

Apart from them, Randhir Singh Bhindar, a former BJP MLA who earlier separated from the party and formed his Janta Sena outfit, also merged with the BJP.

Alok Beniwal is the son of the former governor of Gujarat Kamla Beniwal.