6-time Madhya Pradesh MLA Ramniwas Rawat quits Congress, joins BJP
6-time Madhya Pradesh MLA Ramniwas Rawat quits Congress, joins BJP
Six-time Madhya Pradesh MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP on Tuesday, in a major jolt to Congress. Rawat served as a minister in the Digvijay Singh government and was previously the executive president of MP Congress. He has now aligned himself with the BJP, with Chief Minister Mohan Yadav present during his induction.Â
Notably, Rawat’s defection came while senior party MP Rahul Gandhi is on a visit to the state.
Ramniwas Rawat represents the Vijaypur constituency of Sheopur district. He has been elected MLA six times from Vijaypur.Â
Rawat had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Narendra Singh Tomar from the Morena seat and lost by a huge margin.Â
Ramniwas Rawat is a prominent leader of the OBC community.
The latest blow to the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh comes just a day after its candidate for the Indore Lok Sabha constituency, Akshay Kanti Bamb, withdrew nomination and switched to BJP.
The Congress took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that its candidates were threatened in Surat and Indore. The Congress’ Surat candidate’s nomination form was rejected over discrepancies, paving the way for the BJP nominee to get elected unopposed from the seat in Gujarat.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “Since 1984 the Congress has not won Surat and Indore Lok Sabha seats. Yet in 2024 Congress candidates in both seats were threatened, intimidated and bulldozed into withdrawing their nominations.”
“Why is the PM so nervous and afraid even in traditional BJP bastions?” he said.
Madhya Pradesh votes in four phases in the Lok Sabha election, with Indore set to vote on May 13.