Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh joins Congress, meets Rahul Gandhi

Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra on Wednesday joined the Congress in a big jolt to the saffron party. The Rajasthan BJP MLA met Congress president Rahul Gandhi before joining the party on Wednesday. The move comes ahead of assembly elections in the state.

Singh met Rahul in the presence of other senior leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Avinash Pande and Randeep Surjewala. The announcement of his induction was made at a press conference. 

An MLA from Sheo in Barmer, Manvendra Singh had announced in September that he was quitting the BJP. "Kamal ka Phool Badi Bhool", he had said then, claiming that going with the BJP's election symbol, the lotus, was a "big mistake".

Congress leaders believe that Manvendra joining the party fold will help bring in Rajput votes in the assembly polls. Party General Secretary Ashok Gehlot said Manvendra Singh's presence would further boost the Congress fortunes in the Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, the BJP has denied that the move would have any negative impact on the BJP. Rajasthan's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore claimed Singh's decision is a political misstep and he should have thought before switching sides. "The Congress is helpless. Therefore it is adopting sidelined BJP leaders. It is his personal decision but this is a politically wrong decision. He is not going to get anything with this," Rathore said.

As for the Rajput votes, Rathore said the community has traditionally voted for the BJP. "There will be no impact of this as the Rajput votes will remain with the BJP only," he added.

Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh also hit out at Manvendra over the move. "It's Manvendra Singh's decision. His father Jaswant Singh spent his entire life fighting with Congress. BJP gave him respect as Finance and Defence Minister. It's the same Congress party that didn't appoint any Rajput from Rajasthan as a minister in Centre in 70 years," he said.