According to sources, Congress MLA and former Rajasthan cabinet minister Mahendrajit Singh Malviya is likely to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which will deal a major blow to the party in the state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to sources, Malviya is not ‘happy’ with Congress.
It is noteworthy that Malviya did not come to Jaipur on February 14 when Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination papers as Congress candidate from Rajasthan for the Rajya Sabha elections.
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Malviya currently represents Bagidaura assembly seat in Banswara district.
As a tribal leader from southern Rajasthan, where the BJP is considered stronger than the Congress, his inclusion could be significant ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state.
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Bagidaura assembly seat is part of the Mewar region, which largely extended to the old districts of Bhilwara, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand and Udaipur before the reorganization of districts on August 4.
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Malviya became MLA for the first time in 2008 by defeating Jeetmal Khant of Janata Dal (United) by 45,000 votes. In 2003, Khant defeated Malviya by 6 thousand votes.
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Despite strong anti-incumbency in 2013, when the Congress was reduced to just 21 seats, Malviya retained his seat by defeating BJP’s Khemraj Garasia. He defeated Garcia again in 2018.
In 2020, Malviya’s name surfaced in an FIR lodged by Tonk MLA Sachin Pilot and his group of MLAs loyal to him in connection with an attempt to topple the Ashok Gehlot government that year.
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The case pertains to a purported audio clip leaked during the political crisis that year, in which some people were heard saying that Malviya was with Pilot but had switched sides.
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This story is published from a wire agency feed without any modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
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Published: Feb 16, 2024, 08:34 am IST