Madhya Pradesh: Major Blow To Congress As 6-Time MLA Ramniwas Rawat Switches To BJP

Six-time MLA Ramniwas Rawat has quit the Congress and joined the BJP. His move comes as a major blow to the Congress amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Ramniwas Rawat is a six-time MLA and former working president of Congress's Madhya Pradesh unit. ( Image Source :FB@Ramniwassheopur )

Ramniwas Rawat, six-time MLA and former working president of Congress's Madhya Pradesh unit, has dealt a massive blow to the grand old party by switching to the BJP. He was also a minister in the Digvijaya Singh Cabinet. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav inducted Ramniwas Rawat into the BJP in Sheopur.

Ramnivas Rawat has won the Vijaypur Assembly constituency in Sheopur district six times — 1990, 1993, 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2023. He had entered politics as a Youth Congress leader and rose up the ranks. He contested the Morena Lok Sabha seat in 2019, but lost it to BJP's Narendra Singh Tomar.  The Morena seat covers the Sheopur and Morena districts. Morena will go to polls in the third phase on May 7. 

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh: 6-time MLA Ramniwas Rawat quits Congress and joins the BJP, in Sheopur, in the presence of CM Mohan Yadav. #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/CmpvqzT2of

— ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2024

According to several reports, Rawat wanted a ticket this time too. But the Congress chose Satyapal Singh Sikarwar over him as its candidate from the Morena Lok Sabha seat.

आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के नेतृत्व में सबका साथ, सबका विकास और सबका विश्वास के मंत्र पर कार्यान्वित लोक कल्याणकारी नीतियों से प्रभावित होकर अपने समर्थकों की आकांक्षाओं और आशाओं के अनुरूप 'मोदी जी के परिवार' का हिस्सा बनने पर वरिष्ठ विधायक एवं पूर्व मंत्री श्री… pic.twitter.com/kvlzGmeblo

— Dr Mohan Yadav (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrMohanYadav51) April 30, 2024

Congress Leaders' Exodus In MP Continues

Rawat is the latest in the long list of Congress leaders jumping ship. On Monday, Congress's Indore Lok Sabha seat candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination, quit the party and switched to the BJP. His move camera right after a 10-year-old murder case was extended. Indore is slated to go to polls on May 13.

Last month, heavyweight Congress leader and former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri, Indore ex-MLA Sanjay Shukla and other former MLAs and MPs from Madhya Pradesh switched to the BJP.

Last year, former Nagod MLA Yadvendra Singh quit the party after he was denied a ticket for the Assembly polls. Soon after the Congress's thrashing defeat in the assembly elections, state unit president Kamal Nath was speculated to have decided to quit the party and join BJP. He even flew to Delhi amid the frenzied discussions around his departure.

However, the Congress seemed to have placated him and managed to retain his services.