Hanuman Beniwal's Rashtriya Loktantrik Party allies with BJP in Rajasthan, to contest Lok Sabha election from Nagaur

The Congress suffered a setback in Rajasthan on Thursday as the BJP has forged an alliance with Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) in a  bid to woo the Jat community in the state. The parties sealed the alliance after Beniwal arrived at the BJP office in Jaipur on Thursday morning and met the saffron party’s Rajasthan election in-charge Prakash Javadekar. This development comes is a major blow for the Congress as the grans old party had earlier tried to have Beniwal join its camp, but they failed to reach an understanding.

हमने तय किया है कि आरएलपी, एनडीए का एक घटक होगा। हनुमान बेनीवाल जी आगामी लोकसभा चुनाव में हमारे साथ हैं। राजस्थान में हम एक-दूसरे की पूरी मदद करेंगे- श्री @MPMadanSaini, प्रदेशाध्यक्ष pic.twitter.com/mo9uejka8N

— BJP Rajasthan (@BJP4Rajasthan) April 4, 2019

The BJP has fielded Beniwal from Rajasthan’s Nagaur constituency to fight contest against Congress’ Jyoti Mirdha. Beniwal is the sitting legislator from Khinvsar in Nagaur district. [caption id=“attachment_6386311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Hanuman Beniwal met the saffron party’s Rajasthan election in charge Prakash Javadekar. Twitter/@BJP4Rajasthan[/caption] The RLP leader was quoted as saying by News18: “I will fight the election from Nagaur with support from the BJP. I will also campaign across the country for the party.” Rajasthan chief minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had held talks with Beniwal twice last week, but the two sides could not reach an agreement. However, Beniwal had claimed that the meeting with Gehlot had been over farmers’ issues, not the Lok Sabha election. The RLP leader is believed to have asked for seven seats from the Congress, a demand Gehlot denied. _LOK SABHA ELECTION 2019 CAMPAIGNS: CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES_