Congress MLA and former Rajasthan cabinet minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya is likely to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which sources say will be a major blow to the party in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections from 2024.
According to sources, Malviya is not 'happy' with the Congress.
Notably, Malviya did not come to Jaipur during the filing of Sonia Gandhi's nomination papers as the Congress candidate from Rajasthan for the Rajya Sabha elections on February 14.
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Malviya currently represents Bagidora Assembly seat in Banswara district.
As a tribal leader from southern Rajasthan, where the BJP is considered to have a stronger base than the Congress, his participation could assume significance before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state.
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The Bagidora Assembly seat is part of the Mewar region, which largely includes the old districts of Bhilwara, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand and Udaipur, before the reorganization of the districts on August 4.
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Malviya first became an MLA in 2008, defeating Jeetmal Khant of Janata Dal (United) by 45,000 votes. In 2003, Khant had defeated Malviya by 6,000 votes.
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Despite strong anti-incumbency in 2013, when the Congress was reduced to just 21 seats, Malviya had retained his seat by defeating the BJP's Khemraj Garasiya. He defeated Garasiya again in 2018.
In 2020, Malviya's name had surfaced in an FIR filed in connection with the attempt to topple the Ashok Gehlot government that year by Tonk MLA Sachin Pilot and his group of loyalist MLAs.
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The case related to alleged audio clips, leaked during that year's political crisis, in which few people heard that Malviya was with Pilot but had changed sides.
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This story was published via wire agency without modifications to the text. Only the headline has changed.
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Published: Feb 16, 2024 08:34 IST