While Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot was holding meetings with workers in Vadodara on booth management for the upcoming Assembly polls, his party’s two senior leaders — former minister and Dalit leader Raju Parmar and former parliamentarian Naresh Raval joined the BJP along with their supporters in a function in Gandhinagar.
These two leaders, who had resigned from the party last week, were associated with Congress for several decades.
The two leaders’ switching over to the BJP ahead of Assembly polls is a continuation of setbacks that the Opposition Congress has been suffering for the past several years.
The party has lost several key leaders including sitting MLAs to the BJP.
The exodus included Patidar leader Hardik Patel and sitting MLA from Khedbrahma, Ashwin Kotwal, a tribal leader.