Haryana Assembly Election 2204 | Days before polls, BJP's Ashok Tanwar rejoins Congress at Rahul Gandhi's rally

Chandigarh: In a setback to the BJP, its senior leader and former MP Ashok Tanwar joined the Congress at a rally of Rahul Gandhi in Mahendragarh district in Haryana on Thursday, two days before the state goes to polls.

As Gandhi was winding up his speech, an announcement was made from the stage asking the audience to wait for a few minutes.

Soon after, Tanwar, who had joined the BJP earlier this year, walked onto the stage and it was announced that 'Aaj unki ghar vapsi ho gayi hai (today, he has returned to the Congress fold)".

Tanwar, who was considered close to Gandhi and had left the Congress in 2019 following differences with senior party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, joined the party hours before the campaigning for the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls comes to an end at 6 pm.

The Dalit leader's return to the Congress is likely to come as a boost for the party, which is looking to wrest power from the BJP after a decade.

Tanwar, a former Haryana Congress president, shook hands with Gandhi and greeted Hooda, who welcomed him into the party fold and patted his back.

Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal was also present on stage.

Tanwar had joined the AAP in April 2022. Before joining the AAP, he was with the Trinamool Congress briefly.

Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.