Major jolt for Congress in MP: 6-time MLA Ramniwas Rawat ditches party to join BJP

In another setback for the Jitu Patwari-led Congress in Madhya Pradesh, veteran Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat from Vijaypur switched to the BJP, along with his 10,000 supporters, on Tuesday.

Likewise, Mayor Sharda Solanki also joined the BJP.

They both became members in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state chief VD Sharma, and former home minister Narottam Mishra at a public rally in Sheopur.

Interestingly, Rawat joined the BJP at the same time when Rahul Gandhi was addressing a gathering in the neighboring Bhind district.

Prior to his joining, Ramniwas' supporters shared posts about his switch to the BJP on social media. They also prepared banners, posters, and hoardings to show their support.

Rawat served as the representative of the Vijaypur constituency in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1990, 1993, 2003, 2008, and 2013. He faced defeat in 1998 against BJP's Babulal Mewra by over 6,000 votes. In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Rawat was once again defeated, this time by BJP candidate Seetaram, with a margin of 2,840 votes.

Rawat also contested against Narendra Singh Tomar in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Morena and lost by 1,13,341 votes. Additionally, Rawat served as Minister of State under Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh from 1993 to 1998 and later as a Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister in 1998.

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