Former Delhi minister Rajkumar Chauhan set to quit BJP, rejoin Congress

Former Delhi Minister Rajkumar Chauhan, who joined BJP last year is all set to rejoin Congress party, a news agency claimed on Wednesday. He also said he had told BJP not to consider him for the party ticket.

New Delhi:With Delhi to go to the polls in less than a month, the BJP continues to grapple with the problem of former Congress bigwigs leaving the party. Former Delhi minister Rajkumar Chauhan, who had joined the BJP last year, is set to rejoin the Congress.

Chauhan, a prominent Dalit face of Congress who had joined the BJP in May last year, told a news agency that he will rejoin Congress.

Chauhan had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi last week and said he had gone to meet her on her instructions.

He also said he had told BJP not to consider him for the party ticket.

"I have contested so many elections and was made a minister by Sonia Gandhi. I owe my political career to her. I cannot say no to her. Before I went to meet her, I told BJP to not consider me for a ticket in the upcoming poll. I will join Congress as directed by Soniaji," Chauhan told a news agency.

Chauhan was made co-in-charge of the BJP's manifesto committee for the crucial Delhi elections.

Prior to Chauhan, former Delhi minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and former union minister Krishna Tirath had returned to Congress. Both Chauhan and Lovely were ministers in the Sheila Dikshit government and were considered Congress heavyweights in Delhi politics.

The leaders had joined BJP apparently after "due vetting" by the top BJP leadership.

Sources stated that the BJP was willing to let such leaders go and had not made any promise of party tickets.

Asked about prominent 'outsiders' leaving the party said, a senior party leader said, "our culture is different".

"Sangh holds control over affairs in Delhi. Things work differently in our party. They were not given any crucial task and they must be feeling out of place," he said.