The Hindu : Other States / Rajasthan News : BJP, Congress induct rebels

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Tuesday, Apr 06, 2004

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BJP, Congress induct rebels

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, APRIL 5.The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the main Opposition, the Congress, in Rajasthan today inducted yet another crop of rebels and new members into their party. Both the parties paraded the new and not so new entrants before the media in their respective State party headquarters.

The BJP catch included one sitting MLA, Tikam Chand Kant, the party rebel who won from Siwana in Barmer this time while the Congress brought back its former Minister, Chandrashekhar, who had represented Kairthal seat in Alwar district.

In what appears to be a drive focussed on the Yadav voters, who are concentrated in Alwar Lok Sabha seat, the BJP took back the former Minister, Sujan Singh Yadav, who had fought as a rebel from Behror and also recruited Phool Singh Yadav, former director General of Police, who also served as member of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission.

One more Yadav in the BJP catch was Ramji Lal Yadav, former Janata Dal MP from Alwar.

The new entrants into the BJP included former Congress Minister, Sohan Singh from Masuda in Ajmer, Shadi Khan, formerly with the Bahujan Samaj Party, Rattan Singh Rathore from Rajasthan Samajik Nyaya Manch, former Congress leader and president of the Valmiki Mahasangh, Shanti Valmiki.

"This is the third round of recruitment to the party. Some of them are penitent rebels and some others new,'' the State president of the BJP, Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, said introducing the new members. "All of them have returned to the party without any pre-conditions,'' he said.

Among the Congress leaders who returned to the party-fold were former MLAs, Ashok Tanwar (Phagi), Kamla Meena (Sapotra), Pradbu Dayal Meena (Sikrai) and Pokharlal Parihar (Desuri).

The party also enrolled the retired police officer, Devi Singh Naruka (Sikar) and retired sessions judge, Pyre Mohan as members.

The senior leaders of the Congress, Natwar Singh, Nawal Kishore Sharma, the two former Chief Ministers, Shiv Charan Mathur and Jagannath Pahadia, the PCC(I) president, Narain Singh, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, B.D.Kalla, the All India Congress Committee secretary, Hariprasad and the AICC(I) spokesman, Mohan Prakash, who had come to attend the first meeting of the party's Campaign Committee were present on the occasion.

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