Another setback for BJP: Denied ticket, Churu MP Rahul Kaswan resigns, joins Congress

BJP MP from Rajasthan's Churu Rahul Kaswan on Monday resigned from the party and joined the Congress. The two-time MP was denied ticket for the Lok Sabha elections. "Due to political reasons, at this very moment today, I am resigning from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the post of Member of Parliament," he said in a tweet. 

Kaswan thanked BJP President JP Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah for giving him the opportunity to serve the Churu Lok Sabha family for 10 years. "Special thanks to my Churu Lok Sabha family, who always gave me valuable support, cooperation and blessings."

This time, the BJP has fielded Devendra Jhajharia from the Churu parliamentary seat. Kaswan won from here twice with over 50 per cent votes each time. He was reportedly dropped for his role in senior BJP leader Rajendra Rathore's electoral defeat at Taranagar in the Rajasthan assembly polls.

A BJP source told ThePrint that Kaswan's ticket denial was not linked to non-performance or anti-incumbency, but it was linked to his involvement in defeating former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore from Churu. "After Rathore complained to the senior leadership, it took cognisance of anti-party activities and he was denied the ticket."

Kaswan's resignation comes just a day after BJP MP from Hisar Brijendra Singh resigned from the party and joined the Congress the same day.