With two weeks left for the Rajasthan Assembly elections, the Congress in the state suffered a double blow as former Congress minister Ram Gopal Bairwa and former MLA Asoka Tanwar and several other leaders joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The new leaders were inducted in the presence of Rajasthan BJP President CP Joshi and Member of Lok Sabha Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at the party office in Jaipur.

Welcoming the new leaders in the party fold, Joshi said, “It seems that we will make Jhotwara ‘Congress-Mukt’. I express gratitude to all of you for reposing faith in the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Jhotwara, a Legislative Assembly constituency, is a suburban area of Jaipur.

“Today a big Congress Dalit leader Gopal Bairwa has joined the BJP. Former MLA Asoka Tanwar has also joined the party. I welcome them all. Chavi Rajawat a sarpanch who made a name for herself is also welcomed to the party” said CP Joshi State BJP Chief.

During a press conference, the BJP also launched an attack on the Congress after the rape of a minor was reported from Dausa.

“We condemn this incident, and the accused should be given strict punishment. Why are such incidents occurring every five years and continuously increasing? When the government and administration ignore such kinds of incidents, then criminals become successful in committing such crimes,” said CP Joshi.

Earlier, the incident had sparked public outrage. Visuals from Dausa showed a large number of people protesting outside Rahuwas police station in the Lalsot area.

“The kind of incident that has come to light where the protector has become a predator, where a four-year-old Dalit girl has been raped by a sub-inspector of police and this is not the first such incident in Rajasthan. In Rajasthan, police teachers are continuously carrying out such incidents in government schools,” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.

Rajasthan will go to polls on November 25, the counting of which will take place on December 3 along with four other state assembly elections.

In the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections, the Congress won 99 seats while the BJP won 73 seats in the 200-member house.