JAIPUR : In a politically significant development in Rajasthan that also comes as a major setback for Mayawati, all six BSP MLAs on Monday night wrote to state assembly Speaker C P Joshi to merge the legislative party with the Congress.
The MLAs, who had been in touch with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, met Assembly Speaker CP Joshi and submitted a letter informing him about their decision to join the Congress. With all six joining the Congress, they have bypassed the anti-defection law.

All six BSP MLAs in Rajasthan defected to the ruling Congress on Monday night. The development came ahead of civic body polls and bypolls for two assembly seats.MLAs Rajendra Singh Gudha, Jogendra Singh Awana, Wajib Ali, Lakhan Singh Meena, Sandeep Yadav and Deepchand said they were merging their legislative party with the Congress. “All the six BSP MLAs were in constant touch with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and today they have came into the fold of the Congress,” a Congress leader said.
“We took a decision in order to fight against communal forces and to work for the development of the state and stability of the government. Ashok ji is the best Chief Minister and no one can be better than him for Rajasthan. I was impressed with his style of working and polity,” Rajendra Guda told news agency ANI.

Mr Guda had given an indication of a switch when he went public with allegations that his party demanded money to nominate candidates for elections. Another MLA, Jogendra Singh Awana, said it was difficult for them to support Congress from outside.

“We have given our resignation letter and also met CP Joshi ji and Ashok ji today. There were several challenges in front of us. On one hand, we were supporting Congress for the development of the state and on the other, we were fighting against them in elections. We all gave a thought to it. We took a decision in favour of the state,” he said.
Saying that it was difficult for them to support Congress from outside, Nadbai MLA Jogendra Singh Awana said, “We have given our resignations letter and also met CP Joshi ji and Ashok ji today. There were several challenges in front of us.
The Rajasthan Assembly has 200 seats. The Congress has 100 MLAs and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has one MLA, giving it the majority to run the government. The Congress has also the outside support of 12 out of total 13 independent MLAs. Two seats are vacant.
2009, during Gehlot’s earlier tenure, all the six BSP MLAs had also defected to Congress. That time, the government was five short of a clear majority.
The Congress, taking its tally to 106 in the 200-member assembly, past the majority mark of 101. The move is significant just two months ahead of local body elections due in November. In the Rajasthan elections last year, Congress had won 100 seats, defeating the BJP, which ended up with 72.
Besides the support of the BSP’s six members, the Congress had also received the backing of 12 of 13 independent MLAs. The Congress, taking its tally to 106 in the 200-member assembly, past the majority mark of 101. The move is significant just two months ahead of local body elections due in November.
Meanwhile,BSP President Mayawati on Tuesday hit out at the Congress , saying the party has once again proved that it is “unreliable” and “untrustworthy”. “The Congress has always been against BR Ambedkar and his ideology. That is why Ambedkar had to resign as the country’s first law minister. The Congress never honoured him with a Bharatratna, which is sad and shameful,” tweeted Mayawati.
In a series of tweets, Mayawati said, “The Congress government in Rajasthan has once again poached BSP MLAs and proved that is an unreliable and untrustworthy party”. Terming it as a “betrayal” of the BSP movement, Mayawati said it comes despite the BSP extending unconditional outside support to the Congress.

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