In a significant setback for the Congress party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat, its Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister Naran Rathwa, along with his son and a considerable number of supporters, officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday.
Hailing from Chhota Udepur in Gujarat, Rathwa’s term as a Rajya Sabha member is set to conclude in April this year. He has previously been elected to the Lok Sabha on five occasions, beginning in 1989 and then consecutively in 1991, 1996, 1998, and 2004.
Rathwa’s son, Sangramsinh, who had previously contested the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections unsuccessfully as a Congress candidate from the Scheduled Tribe (ST)-reserved Chhota Udepur seat, also joined the BJP alongside his father and numerous supporters at a ceremony.
Rathwa served as a Minister of State for Railways in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004. He faced defeat to BJP candidate Ramsinh Rathwa in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
The induction of Rathwa and others into the BJP was conducted by Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil, who presented them with saffron scarves and caps at the party’s state headquarters ‘Kamalam’ in a formal ceremony.
