Congress Rajya Sabha MP Naran Rathwa Joins BJP

Gandhinagar: In a major setback for the Congress party in Gujarat ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Naran Rathwa, its Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister, has crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Rathwa, a prominent tribal leader hailing from Chhota Udepur in Gujarat, made the move along with his son and a sizable group of supporters on Tuesday.

Rathwa, whose term as a Rajya Sabha member concludes in April this year, boasts an extensive political career, having been elected to the Lok Sabha five times previously—in 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, and 2004. His son, Sangramsinh, contested the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections on a Congress ticket for the Scheduled Tribe (ST)-reserved Chhota Udepur seat but was unsuccessful.

The formal joining of Rathwa and his supporters to the BJP took place at a ceremony where Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil welcomed them by presenting saffron scarves and caps at the party’s state headquarters, ‘Kamalam’.

Rathwa’s political journey includes serving as a Minister of State for Railways in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government back in 2004. Despite his prior electoral success, he faced defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections to BJP candidate Ramsinh Rathwa.