The Ashok Gehlot Government consolidated its position in Rajasthan as the single largest party on Saturday after all six BSP legislators joined the Congress in Jaipur,giving the ruling party a majority in the state. All BSP MLAs announced they were joining the Congress to help form a stable Government and help defeat the BJP in Rajasthan. The Congress tally in the Rajasthan Assembly now stands at 102 in the 200-member House. The defection came as a blow to the BSP,who will contest all 25 seats in the state and had even planned to field one of the MLAs,Ramkesh,for the Lok Sabha elections from the Sawaimadhopur-Tonk seat. BSP state president Dungar Ram Gedar maintained that the BSP would emerge unscathed even after such an exodus. The BSP works on a cadre-based system and that is how we garner votes. I do not believe this move will affect the BSPs chances all that much and in fact will work in our favour, Gedar said. He added that the Congress had orchestrated this to damage the BSP which was steadily gaining ground as a third front in the state. Murari Lal,a BSP MLA from Dausa,said they had fought the Assembly elections to defeat the BJP. We were against the previous BJP Governments misrule in Rajasthan and garnered votes on this basis. We have now joined the Congress to help form a stable Government and believe this is best for the people of Rajasthan, Murari Lal said. He added that the six BSP MLAs had supported the Congress since the Assembly elections in December last year threw up a hung House with the Congress emerging as the single largest party. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot lauded the BSP MLAs shift to the Congress on Saturday. We welcome the six MLAs into the party fold and have faith in all of them,particularly as they all share the Congress goal to defeat the BJP in Rajasthan, Gehlot said. He added that the Congress now had a majority in the House without any external support. The defection has come as a boon for the Congress,which in recent times has been at loggerheads with former BJP minister and veteran Meena community leader Kirori Lal Meena,whose four MLAs support the Gehlot Government.
