Ex-MP Ashok Tanwar seeks votes for BJP in Haryana, joins Congress within 2 hours
Ashok Tanwar, who once served as the Haryana Congress president, resigned from the party in 2019.
Ashok Tanwar, former MP from Sirsa, has rejoined the Congress party. Tanwar returned to Congress in the presence of senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Bhupinder Singh Hooda during an election rally in Mahendergarh on Thursday.
Tanwar, who once served as the Haryana Congress president, resigned from the party in 2019 after a fallout. He later joined the Trinamool Congress in November 2021 before switching to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in April 2022. Earlier this year, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and the "transformation" of the country under his governance.
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Tanwar joined Congress hours after campaigning for BJP candidate in Safidon in Jind district. As Rahul Gandhi was winding up his speech, an announcement was made from the stage asking the audience to wait for a few minutes.
Soon after, Tanwar walked onto the stage and it was announced that "aaj unki ghar vapsi ho gayi hai (today, he has returned to the Congress fold)".
Tanwar, a former Haryana Congress president, shook hands with Gandhi and greeted Hooda, who welcomed him into the party fold and patted his back.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he defeated INLD candidate Sita Ram by 35,499 votes from Sirsa (SC). However, in the subsequent 2014 elections, he was beaten by Charanjeet Singh Rori of INLD by 1.15 lakh votes. His political setbacks continued in 2019 when he lost to BJP’s Sunita Duggal by over 3 lakh votes.
Tanwar's return to Congress is expected to strengthen the party's position in Haryana ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.