News Brief

After Campaigning For BJP In Haryana Elections, Former MP Joins Congress On Last Day Of Canvassing In Rahul Gandhi's Presence

Nishtha Anushree

Oct 03, 2024, 03:55 PM | Updated 04:02 PM IST


Ashok Tanwar
Ashok Tanwar

Ashok Tanwar, former Lok Sabha MP from Sirsa, has rejoined the Congress party. Tanwar made his return during an election rally in Mahendergarh on Thursday (3 October).

He was welcomed by the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Tanwar, who previously served as Haryana Congress president, had left the party in 2019 following a disagreement. Since then, he has been part of several political shifts.

He joined the Trinamool Congress in November 2021, then moved to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in April 2022. Earlier this year, he aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Interestingly, Tanwar's return to Congress came just hours after he had campaigned for a BJP candidate in Safidon, Jind district. Not just this, he was campaigning for the BJP on a daily basis.

Yesterday, he was in a meeting to support Gopal Kanda. The day before yesterday, he was with Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini in Narwana and then campaigned in Jind and Hansi.

However, his announcement to join Congress was made after Rahul Gandhi concluded his speech. Tanwar walked onto the stage and the audience was told, "Aaj unki ghar vapsi ho gayi hai" (today, he has returned).

He shook hands with Gandhi and was warmly welcomed by Hooda, who patted him on the back. Tanwar had won the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Sirsa (SC).

However, he faced defeats in subsequent elections. He lost to Charanjeet Singh Rori of INLD in 2014 and to BJP’s Sunita Duggal by over 3 lakh votes in 2019.

Nishtha Anushree is Senior Sub-editor at Swarajya. She tweets at @nishthaanushree.


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