After dilly-dallying for several days, the Opposition Congress on Monday extended support to the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) candidate Rajkumar Roat at the tribal-dominated Banswara-Dungarpur Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan, hours before the deadline for withdrawal of nominations for the April 26 polls ended. The party had earlier fielded Youth Congress general secretary Arvind Damor as its candidate from the seat.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the party had decided to support the BAP candidate with the primary objective of “saving the Constitution and democracy” in the country. The local leaders of the Congress were not in favour of entering into an alliance with the BAP because of its ramifications in the future.
Mr. Roat, a sitting MLA from Dungarpur’s Chorasi, welcomed the Congress’ decision and affirmed that the two parties, and voters in the constituency, would ensure the defeat of BJP candidate Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, who had recently switched from Congress to the ruling party. Mr. Roat is a founder-member of the BAP, which has emerged as a splinter group from the Gujarat-based Bharatiya Tribal Party.
