Rajasthan Congress leaders Jyoti Mirdha and Sawai Singh Chaudhary switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jaipur on Monday ahead of assembly elections due later this year.
While the BJP claimed that the development reflected a wave in its favour in Rajasthan, the Congress downplayed it saying leaders leaving or joining any party is a usual occurrence before any election and the departure of the two will not impact the ruling party in the state.
Mirdha, a former MP from Nagaur in Rajasthan, and Chaudhary joined the BJP in the presence of senior leaders including Rajasthan BJP chief C P Joshi at the party headquarters in Delhi.
The granddaughter of Nathuram Mirdha, who was a prominent farmer leader and a Congress heavyweight in Rajasthan, said she quit the Congress as party workers were being ignored.
Chaudhary, a former IPS officer, had contested the 2018 assembly elections from the Khinvsar seat on a Congress ticket.
"The BJP family has been strengthened further...Jyoti Mirdha is a very popular leader," party general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh told reporters.
Singh trained his guns at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan and said that at least 40 leaders, including those from the Congress, have joined the BJP so far, amidst rising crime against women in the state.
"And the number of people coming to the BJP fold is continuously increasing," he said, adding, "This gives a clear message that there is a wave for change in Rajasthan. There is a wave against the ruling Congress. There is a wave in favour of the BJP."
However, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govind Singh Dotasra said that Mirdha was not seen in any of the party activities for the last four and a half years.
"So it is obvious that she did not make up her mind today to join the BJP. She must have made up her mind long ago," Dotasra said.
Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariya also said Mirdha may be from a political family background, but she is not an active personality in politics and her leaving the party will not affect its poll prospects.
"As elections are coming, some are joining BJP, some are joining Congress. This will go on," Khachariyawas told reporters in Jaipur.
"These people were not active... Jyoti Mirdha won the elections on the Congress banner... if you change parties at the time of elections, it does not have much impact," the Congress leader said and claimed that the state would again vote the Congress to power.
Mirdha said there was also a lack of opportunity to contribute to 'nation building' as the Congress was moving in the opposite direction.
"Sometimes, we were heard (in the party), sometimes not. And then a time came when it (Congress) started moving in the opposite direction," she told reporters.
Mirdha said that India's goodwill has increased in the world due to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The trust that the central leadership has reposed in me, I want to assure that we will do our best to strengthen the BJP in view of the assembly polls in Rajasthan and see that it comes back to power at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024," she added.
Dotasra asserted that Congress is strong in Nagaur and entire Rajasthan.
"Her (Mirdha) in-laws are from a BJP background so there must be some pressure on her or what made her change her mind, I do not want to comment on it. She has joined the BJP, congratulations to her, we have no problem. We are strong in Nagaur and Rajasthan," he said.
Without naming anyone, Dotasra said that those who are joining the BJP must be doing so out of fear of the ED and Income Tax department.
"They are going to BJP not to win in elections but to save their skin for whatever they have done in their life," he said.
Disaster management relief minister and chairman of Congress campaign committee Govind Ram Meghwal said that Mirdha has boarded a sinking ship.
He also targeted retired bureaucrats joining the BJP, saying that they are doing so under a 'false impression' that the BJP was coming to power.
Govind Ram Meghwal, who is from Bikaner district, also took potshots at Union minister and Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, saying 'he did not know 'ABCD' of politics till the age of 60 and then joined politics and keeps praising the prime minister'.
BJP Rajasthan Unit president C P Joshi welcomed Mirdha and Choudhary to the party fold and said they joined the BJP due to 'lack of leadership, policy and intent in the Congress'.
"They have joined the BJP as it has a strong leadership and a clear policy," he said, adding, "I understand that they have joined the BJP as they are upset with the kind of situations prevailing in Rajasthan where women are not safe."
The Mirdha family has been at the centre of politics in the Marwar region of Rajasthan for decades. Jyoti Mirdha's grandfather Nathuram Mirdha had influence in Congress and state politics. Nathuram was MP and MLA many times.
Jyoti Mirdha is a doctor by profession. She contested and won the Lok Sabha elections from Nagaur in 2009 but lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Nagaur is a Jat-dominated area. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) has tried to gain a hold in this area in the last few years.
In the 2018 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party left the Nagaur seat for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally RLP.
RLP convener Hanuman Beniwal emerged victorious from this seat against Congress candidate Mirdha. Beniwal later parted ways with the NDA over the farmers' law issue.
