Denied Congress tickets, two Sachin Pilot confidants join BJP

Among the staunchest Pilot supporters, Mishra, who is also the national president of the Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha, has gone the extra mile in the past five years to support Pilot during his tug-of-war with Gehlot.

Mishra joined the BJP after he was not given a ticket by the Congress from the Sanganer Assembly seat, a constituency he had unsuccessfully contested from in 2008. Talking to The Indian Express, Mishra said: “Koi Sachin Pilot ko pooch nahin raha. Sachin Pilot ek young chap tha, usko toh khatam kar diya inhone (Pilot has no say in the party, he has been finished)… What option did I have?”

Mishra also questioned the Congress government’s recent decision to give compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the family of Iqbal, who was murdered over an argument after a road rage accident. According to him, this was another example of the Congress insulting sanatan, and he cited that as one of the reasons he left the party.

Former Congress leaders including former MLAs join BJP in the presence of Rajasthan BJP in-charge Arun Singh, party’s state president CP Joshi and leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore, in Jaipur on Saturday. (ANI Photo)

“I would have won from Sanganer if I was given the ticket. The Congress gave the ticket to someone who lost the last elections by a margin of more than 30,000 votes. If you want to give all tickets to old candidates, what is the use of doing surveys?” Mishra said.

At the same time, he said that while Pilot’s supporters like him had been sidelined, sitting MLAs from the Pilot camp had been fielded.

Khandelwal too falls in the category of Mishra, as fielded by the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Jaipur seat, she had lost to the BJP’s Ram Charan Bohra. The BJP and allies had won all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

On Saturday, Khandelwal said: “The workers on the ground who lead protests are consistently ignored…This is a case of weak leadership. Even in the MP elections, local MLAs didn’t work, and opposed me. But there was no action against them. ”

Asked if she faced any issue because she was a supporter of Pilot, Khandelwal said, “Yes, it is possible. In Congress it doesn’t matter what you are doing for the party. Instead it is about you are with which leader. If you are with one of them then you will not be allowed to work.”

Before the 2018 Assembly elections, Khandelwal had been hoping for a ticket from constituencies such as Hawa Mahal and Kishan Pole in Jaipur, but could not get them. In April this year, when Pilot staged a day-long fast against his own government over the issue of corruption, Khandelwal was among the few leaders by his side.

The other leaders who joined the BJP on Saturday included former MLAs CS Vaid, Nandlal Poonia, leaders such as Hari Singh Saharan, Sanwarmal Maharia, student leader Ravindra Singh Bhati, former IPS officer Kesar Singh Shekhawat, ex-bureaucrat Bhim Singh Bika along with other local level Congress and AAP leaders.