Out in the cold in BJP, a Rajasthan MP finds home in Congress: Who is Rahul Kaswan?

Kaswan joined the Congress in Delhi in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, the party’s state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, state president Govind Singh Dotasra, and Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Tika Ram Jully. After leaving the BJP, Kaswan said he was following the wishes of the people of Churu and joining the Congress and attacked the growing “feudal mindset” of the ruling party at the cost of farmers’ voices. He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving him the opportunity to be the Churu Lok Sabha MP for 10 years.

Kaswan’s decision to join the Congress comes in the backdrop of BJP’s Churu veteran Rajendra Rathore losing an Assembly election last year after winning consecutively for seven terms and launching a not-so-veiled attack on him over the loss. Rathore’s last Assembly election loss before that had been in 1985 when contesting as a Janata Party candidate in Churu, he lost to Hamida Begum of the Congress.

After the latest loss, Rathore had a public outburst at a rally in Churu where he blamed the “Jaichando, Vibhishano” — used to imply traitors — for the loss; Rathore was referring to the historical figure Jaichand and the mythological figure Vibhishan, respectively. Rathore was said to have been a frontrunner for the CM post.

The accusations have also divided Churu along caste lines as Rathore is Rajput and Kaswan a Jat. Recently, a purported transfer list of nearly two dozen Jat officers out of Taranagar, from where Rathore contested and lost, and from Churu, his former constituency, also went viral on social media along with the allegations that Rathore was being vindictive towards the Jat community.

On February 27, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, a Jat himself, said at a rally, “If from somewhere a person of one caste won (the election) and person of another caste lost, woh haarne wala aadmi doosri jaati ke logon ko nikaal raha hai, dharma, jaati ke aadhaar par transfer kar rahe hain (the person who lost is showing the door to people of the other caste, and transfers are happening based on one’s religion and caste. What is this tamasha? Is this the Gujarat model?”

After joining the Congress, Kaswan said the BJP state leadership had failed to resolve the differences between him and Rathore — without naming him — and said he was not heard and indicated that the decision to drop him was unilaterally taken.

“There has been a communication gap in the state leadership. A particular person has compromised the entire system and now the result is before you. If there is such an issue then it is the responsibility of people sitting on those chairs (in party leadership) to listen to both sides but one side is dominating the BJP’s state leadership,” Kaswan said.

Third-generation politician

The 47-year-old Kaswan is a third-generation politician from Churu, with his family having been in public life for the last four to five decades. His grandfather Deepchand was born in Kalri village in Churu’s Rajgarh in 1925 and was elected MLA from Sadulpur (Churu) in 1980 as an Independent.

Both of Kaswan’s parents have been in public life too. His father Ram Singh Kaswan and his mother Kamla Kaswan were elected as BJP MLAs from Sadulpur in 1998 and 2008, respectively. Sadulpur is also Kaswan’s birthplace. Ram Singh is also a four-term MP from Churu, having been elected in 1991, 1999, 2004, and 2009.

In 2014, Ram Singh passed on the baton to Kaswan who was elected with a 52.63% vote share and a margin of 2.94 lakh votes against the BSP’s Abhinesh Maharshi who stood second with 26.59% of the votes. The Congress’s Pratap Singh stood third with a 15.63% vote share.

In 2019, Rahul increased his voting percentage to 59.59% and had a margin of 3.34 lakh against the Congress’s Rafique Mandelia, who stood second with 34.64% vote share.