In a setback to the BJP, its senior leader and former MP Ashok Tanwar joined the Congress at a rally of Rahul Gandhi in Mahendragarh district in Haryana on Thursday, two days before the state goes to polls.

As Gandhi was winding up his speech, an announcement was made from the stage asking the audience to wait for a few minutes.

Soon after, Tanwar, who had joined the BJP earlier this year, walked onto the stage and it was announced that "aaj unki ghar vapsi ho gayi ha (today, he has returned to the Congress fold)".

Tanwar, who was considered close to Gandhi and had left the Congress in 2019 following differences with senior party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, joined the party hours before the campaigning for the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls comes to an end at 6 pm.

The Dalit leader's return to the Congress is likely to come as a boost for the party, which is looking to wrest power from the BJP after a decade.

Tanwar, a former Haryana Congress president, shook hands with Gandhi and greeted Hooda, who welcomed him into the party fold and patted his back.

Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal was also present on stage.

Tanwar had joined the AAP in April 2022. Before joining the AAP, he was with the Trinamul Congress briefly.

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