Ashok Tanwar: From Congress to Trinamool and now to AAP

Tanwar was once considered close to top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and was Haryana Congress president as well as Youth Congress chief

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia shakes hands with former TMC leader Ashok Tanwar during a press conference after the latter joined the Aam Aadmi Party. Credit: PTI Photo

Less than five months after joining the Trinamool Congress (TMC), former Haryana Congress leader Ashok Tanwar on Monday switched sides to the AAP at a time the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is trying to make a mark in the north Indian state after its stunning victory in Punjab.

Tanwar, who was once considered close to top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and was Haryana Congress president as well as Youth Congress chief, joined the party after a meeting with Kejriwal.

"I am grateful to Kejriwal ji for including me and my colleagues in AAP. We have been fighting the battle of farmers, labourers, and small shopkeepers. We have joined with Kejriwal to take it forward," Tanwar later told a press conference in the presence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Sisodia said people from every corner of the country are joining the AAP, influenced by the "Kejriwal Model of Governance".

Also read: Retired IPS officer Bhaskar Rao joins AAP in Delhi

Tanwar's entry into the AAP comes at a time the party is planning to increase its footprint in the state, which would go to polls next year.

On Sunday, sources said, he had held a meeting with his supporters in Delhi during which there was an overwhelming response to the proposal to join the AAP.

A Dalit leader who rose from the ranks, he had quit the Congress in 2019 after intense infighting in Haryana Congress. He was at loggerheads with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda when he was Haryana Congress president and had been complaining that the former was not cooperating with him in the organisation. He was later replaced by Kumari Selja.

He was considered close to Rahul once and was made the Haryana Congress president at the latter's insistence. Earlier, he was Youth Congress president too.

In November last year, he joined the Trinamool Congress and was recently tasked with investigating the reasons for the party's poor show in the recent Goa Assembly elections.

While joining the Trinamool, Tanwar had spoken about disenchantment with the Congress and had said that Mamata Banerjee is the only leader that can defeat the BJP. In a recent bypoll in Haryana, he had supported INLD's Abhay Chautala. He had also formed an organisation Apna Bharat Morcha in February.

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