BJP is Ashok Tanwar's 5th Party. Is the Political Hopper Finally Home Before Haryana Elections 2024?

Political heat soared this cold winter morning in Delhi when the BJP clinched a major advantage ahead of Haryana Assembly elections with former AAP leader Ashok Tanwar joining the saffron party along with his supporters.

Tanwar joined the BJP in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership while taking subtle digs at the Congress and AAP, both his former parties.

“The country has transformed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in last 10 years,” he said.

Tanwar quit the Congress in 2019 and joined AAP in 2022. In between, the former Lok Sabha MP had floated his party and even joined the Trinamool Congress for a brief period. He resigned from AAP on Thursday, protesting its likely alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

A DALIT FACE IN BJP’S NON-JAT COALITION

At 47, Tanwar is a relatively young Dalit face who can help the BJP capitalise on the state’s 20% Scheduled Caste votes. While the BJP is almost certain to fight all seven Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, it is actively exploring options to fight 2024 Assembly elections in the state without ally JJP.

It has a non-Jat CM face in Manohar Lal Khattar and recently appointed an OBC state president – Nayab Singh Saini. With a Dalit leader on its side, the BJP can formulate a coherent non-Jat caste coalition that can take on the JJP and the Congress, both heavily dependent on Jat votes.

JNU GRAD, ACTIVIST & EX-RAHUL GANDHI AIDE

Tanwar sported an activism streak early in life during his days at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he completed his M.A., M.Phil. and later Ph.D. on Medieval Indian History. He came into the spotlight when he fought the election for the president’s post in the JNU Students’ Union.

Rahul Gandhi is said to have spotted and made him NSUI’s secretary in 1999 and its president in 2003. The Gandhi scion is said to cherry-pick the organisation’s leadership.

Tanwar was also made the president of the Indian Youth Congress, an organisation that counts senior Congress leaders like Randeep Singh Surjewala and Manish Tewari among past chiefs.

Ashok Tanwar’s rise within the Congress party was meteoric and he was often seen to be Rahul Gandhi’s close aide. He fought the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Sirsa and won during the UPA regime, but lost out to the Modi wave in 2014.

However, he was made the president of the Haryana unit of the Congress the same year and often clashed with former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. But when Gandhi family loyalist Kumari Selja succeeded him in September 2019, it took him less than a month for Tanwar to leave Congress.

THE PARTY HOPPER

Tanwar is a classic case of political party hopper. He also floated his own party — the Apna Bharat Morcha.

Amid much fanfare, Tanwar joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Delhi in November 2021 in presence of Mamata Banerjee when she was visiting the national capital amid the party’s efforts to project itself as a national alternative.

However, the stint abruptly ended in April the next year when Tanwar joined the AAP in Delhi and described the party as “ummeed ki kiran” (ray of hope). He resigned earlier this month with a terse resignation letter and heavily criticised the AAP’s talks with the Congress, the party he started his political innings with.

Interestingly, even in his resignation letter to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, he referred to India as ‘Bharat’ when he said: “I will continue to work for the betterment of the state of Haryana, our beloved country Bharat, and its people.”