Jaipur, Mar 27: In a major boost for Congress party in Rajasthan ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, as many as 12 Independent MLAs joined the Congress party along with seven others, such as former BJP heavyweight Ghanshyam Tiwari and Jaipur Mayor Vishnu Lata, who had also been with the BJP until recently.
They joined the party at the booth workers meeting here on Tuesday evening in the presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi.
Six-time MLA and former minister in Rajasthan government under BJP, Ghanshyam Tiwari, had been associated with the RSS for over 65 years in various capacities. He resigned from the BJP last year over differences with then chief minister Vasundhara Raje. He then floated his own party which could not win a single seat in last year’s election.
Another minister in the Raje government, Surendra Goyal, also joined the Congress.
The 12 Independent MLAs who joined the Congress are Raj Kumar Gaur (Ganganagar), Khushveer Singh (Marwar Junction), Suresh Tak (Kishangarh), Babulal Nagar (Dudu), Laxman Meena (Bassi), Mahadeo Singh (Khandela), Sanyam Lodha (Sirohi), Ramkesh (Gangapur), Alok Beniwal (Shahpura), Ramila Khadiya (Kushalgarh), Kanti Prasad Meena (Thanagazi) and Baljeet Yadav (Behror).
Inputs from agencies