Jaipur: Two Congress leaders Jyoti Mirdha, along with retired IPS officer Sawai Singh, have joined the BJP, changing the political equation in the poll-bound state of Rajasthan.
Mirdha is considered to be the strong Jat face in Rajasthan who contested the Lok Sabha elections from Nagaur on Congress ticket. In the 2009 general election, Sonia Gandhi had also campaigned for Mirdha.
Sawai Singh had also contested elections from Khinvsar on Congress ticket.
Mirdha’s joining BJP, has given the party a strong edge in Jat dominated Nagaur constituency. Mirdha, being the Lok Sabha candidate from Congress in the last Lok Sabha elections, had lost to NDA candidate Hanuman Beniwal.
A BJP worker said that the Mirdha family still has influence on the politics of Nagaur.
Mirdha’s son, Bhanuprakash Mirdha, had also won an election from Nagaur on a BJP ticket.
Jyoti Mirdha was MP from Nagaur seat in 2009, but lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019.
The Mirdha family has direct relations with the family of former Haryana chief minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda. Jyoti Mirdha’s sister Shweta Mirdha is married to Bhupendra Hooda and is the wife of Rajya Sabha MP Deependra Singh Hooda.
Discussions about other leaders of the Mirdha family joining BJP are further gaining momentum. There is speculation about senior Congress leader Richpal Mirdha and his son Degana MLA Vijaypal Mirdha also joining BJP. Richpal Mirdha is the uncle of Jyoti Mirdha.
Sawai Singh had contested assembly elections from Khinvsar on Congress ticket in 2018.
He served as DIG and retired after 34 years of service in police service. He is originally a resident of Sinod in Nagaur. He was selected in the police service in June 1984.
—IANS
