Jaswant Singh's son, Cong's new Rajput mascot

New Delhi: Rajasthan BJP MLA Manvendra Singh, son of former Union minister Jaswant Singh, joined the Congress on Wednesday ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. Mr Singh met Congress president Rahul Gandhi before joining the party in the presence of top leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and Avinash Pande.  

Singh had quit the BJP on September 22. He described his disenchantment with the party at a public rally with the phrase: “Kamal ka phool, hamaari bhool (BJP’s lotus was my mistake).” He said after the death of former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee, his father's contemporary in the party, that “there is an end of an idea and culture I was born into”. 

After joining the Congress, he said it was a “difficult decision” that he had thought over for a long time.  Mr Jaswant Singh’s rift with the BJP widened when it did not field him in 2014 from Barmer in Rajasthan, his home base. Mr Jaswant Singh, one of the founders of the BJP, contested as an Independent and lost to the BJP candidate. The slight didn’t go down well with Rajputs, who form about seven per cent of Rajasthan’s voters, and have traditionally voted BJP.

Speaking at Mr Singh’s joining ceremony, former CM of Rajasthan and AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot said: “I was witness to how Jaswant Singh was denied a ticket in 2014. Someone who had served as defence, external affairs and finance minister and who was a potential prime ministerial candidate became the target of a conspiracy, just like L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.” 

The Congress hopes to encash on the disillusionment as it welcomes Manvendra Singh in the run-up to the December 7 assembly election. The BJP tried to placate the Rajputs by forwarding the name of central minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to take over the reins of the party ahead of the assembly elections.