Rajasthan: Former BJP MP Sonaram Choudhary returns to Congress

Jaipur: Veteran politician and former MP Colonel Sonaram Choudhary (retd) on Sunday returned to the Congress fold, almost nine years after joining the BJP.

He met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi earlier in the day and returned to Jaipur where he joined the party.

"Col Sonaram Choudhary (retd) has joined the Congress party. The party's in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and other leaders have welcomed him," a party spokesperson said here.

Party sources said he is likely to get a ticket to contest from the Gudhamalani assembly seat of Barmer which is currently held by state Forest Minister Hemaram Choudhary.

Hemaram has expressed his desire to not contest the elections.

Choudhary had switched over to the BJP ahead of the 2014 general elections. He had contested the polls on BJP ticket from the Barmer parliamentary seat and defeated veteran leader Jaswant Singh who had contested as an Independent candidate.

However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP did not give a ticket to Sonaram and instead fielded Kailash Chaudhary, who is now a Union minister of state.

Subsequently, Choudhary began to distance himself from the BJP. He joined the Congress formally on Sunday.