JAIPUR: CWC member and prominent tribal leader from Rajasthan‘s Mewar-Vagad region Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya is poised to quit Congress and join BJP, sources in Congress said. He was said to be miffed over not being made the opposition leader in the state assembly. Congress got into damage control mode on Friday, calling all party MLAs and prominent leaders from the state’s tribal belt to Jaipur.Malviya, meanwhile, reached Delhi on Friday and slammed Congress while speaking to media.
“It’s for all to see the state in which Congress is in right now. The vision that propelled the party once, no longer exists. I was not made a minister for three years. My name was on the list of probable opposition leaders but I did not find favour (with party high command),” said Malviya in Delhi. Malviya, 63, who was made a minister only in the last two years of the previous Congress govt, said the party is now in the grip of a few people. Malviya, considered the tribal face of Congress, is a four-time MLA from Bagidora assembly seat in Banswara district.
His wife Resham Malviya is a three-time zila pramukh in Banswara.
Sources said Malviya was also unhappy as Congress high command did not meet him while he camped in Delhi for several days to present his case. Even though AICC general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal met him, it was a brief meeting that lasted barely two to three minutes.
ED action against senior Congress leader Dinesh Khodaniya, who is said to be close to Malviya, is also being seen as one of the reasons.
Local politics too could have played a role, with BJP leader Dhan Singh Rawat – whose daughter is married to Malviya’s son – reportedly wanting to prop up Malviya as the BJP candidate for Lok Sabha in place of his arch-rival Hakru Maida.
“It’s for all to see the state in which Congress is in right now. The vision that propelled the party once, no longer exists. I was not made a minister for three years. My name was on the list of probable opposition leaders but I did not find favour (with party high command),” said Malviya in Delhi. Malviya, 63, who was made a minister only in the last two years of the previous Congress govt, said the party is now in the grip of a few people. Malviya, considered the tribal face of Congress, is a four-time MLA from Bagidora assembly seat in Banswara district.
His wife Resham Malviya is a three-time zila pramukh in Banswara.
Sources said Malviya was also unhappy as Congress high command did not meet him while he camped in Delhi for several days to present his case. Even though AICC general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal met him, it was a brief meeting that lasted barely two to three minutes.
ED action against senior Congress leader Dinesh Khodaniya, who is said to be close to Malviya, is also being seen as one of the reasons.
Local politics too could have played a role, with BJP leader Dhan Singh Rawat – whose daughter is married to Malviya’s son – reportedly wanting to prop up Malviya as the BJP candidate for Lok Sabha in place of his arch-rival Hakru Maida.