Mahendrajit Singh Malviya rejoins Congress after quitting BJP

Former Rajasthan minister Mahendrajit Singh Malviya rejoined the Congress on Friday, nearly two years after leaving the party to join the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), after approval from the party’s top leadership.

The proposal for Malviya’s re-induction was cleared by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, following which an official letter confirming his return to the party was issued late on Friday. His formal joining is expected to take place soon at the state Congress office.

The decision followed a multi-level review process within the party. Govind Singh Dotasra, president of the RPCC (Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee), sent a detailed report to the AICC (All India Congress Committee) in New Delhi.

Raids were carried out by the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau days after Malviya, a former cabinet minister, signalled his intention to return to the Congress. He had quit the Congress and joined the BJP around two years ago ahead of the previous elections.

Earlier, a meeting of the Rajasthan Congress disciplinary committee, chaired by former minister Udaylal Anjana, had recommended Malviya’s return to the party.

However, the matter was referred to the AICC as Malviya had earlier been a member of the CWC (Congress Working Committee), making a state-level decision procedurally inadequate, party leaders said.

Dotasra later said that since Malviya had served as a CWC member, the final decision was taken at the AICC level, and formal orders approving his return had now been issued.

Dotasra described the action as “a disgrace to democracy” and alleged that agencies were being misused for political vendetta.

Malviya, a former Member of Parliament from the tribal-dominated Banswara constituency and a cabinet minister in the previous Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, had earlier cited his inability to function under the BJP government as the reason for his proposed switch.

He had alleged that welfare schemes such as MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) were facing delays and that farmers were dealing with fertiliser shortages, despite repeated representations to the government.