Haryana Assembly Election: Ex-MP Ashok Tanwar Makes 'Ghar Wapsi' To Congress Hours After Campaigning For BJP

Ashok Tanwar, former MP from Sirsa, has rejoined the Congress party. Tanwar's return was formalised at an election rally in Mahendergarh on Thursday in the presence of senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Tanwar, who previously served as the Haryana Congress president, left the party in 2019 following a dispute. Afterward, he joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in November 2021, followed by a switch to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in April 2022.

Earlier this year, he became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), where he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and the "transformation" of the country under his governance.

Tanwar's return to Congress came just hours after he campaigned for a BJP candidate in Safidon, Jind district. As Rahul Gandhi was wrapping up his speech, an announcement was made asking the crowd to wait. Moments later, Tanwar appeared on stage, and it was declared that "aaj unki ghar vapsi ho gayi hai (today, he has returned to the Congress fold)."

Tanwar, shaking hands with Gandhi and greeting Hooda, was warmly welcomed back into the party. Hooda, in particular, patted him on the back as a gesture of support.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Tanwar had defeated INLD's Sita Ram by 35,499 votes in Sirsa (SC). However, he lost in the 2014 elections to Charanjeet Singh Rori of INLD by 1.15 lakh votes, followed by a huge defeat in 2019 to BJP's Sunita Duggal, losing by over 3 lakh votes.

Tanwar's return is seen as a strategic move to bolster Congress's position in Haryana ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.