Bharatiya Janata Party was in for huge jolt on Wednesday after Harish Chandra Meena, a Member of Parliament from Rajasthan's Dausa, joined Congress ahead of the state Assembly elections scheduled to be held on December 7.
Meena was welcomed into the party in a ceremony presided by Rajasthan's state Congress president Sachin Pilot and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
"I am happy that Harish Meena has decided to join the Congress in such times. I welcome him in the Congress fold," Gehlot was quoted as saying by PTI.
He also said that the new addition will only strengthen the party. Gehlot added, "There is a long list of leaders quitting the BJP and the party should introspect why this is happening."
During the induction ceremony, Gehlot said that he and Pilot will be contesting in the Rajasthan assembly elections.
Meena is a retired IPS officer whose brother Namo Narayan Meena is a senior Congress leader. They had contested against each other in the 2014 general elections with Harish emerging victorious.
This is not the only BJP member to jump ship to the Congress in recent times.
In October, Manvendra Singh, BJP member and former union minister Jaswant Singh moved to the Congress saying that 'choosing the lotus was a mistake'.
Stating that he is moving out of the BJP for self-respect, he said, "There have been many rallies on Gaurav (pride) and Sankalp (determination) but today's rally is the biggest - it is the rally for Swabhiman (self-respect Swabhiman is our right and we are committed to it."
