JAIPUR: In a jolt to the Congress, the Rajasthan Loktantrik Party (RLP) on Thursday joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), forming a new alliance in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
With this alliance, the BJP will contest on 24 of the total 25 Lok Sabha seats.
The announcement was made by BJP state President Madan Lal Saini in the presence of Union Minister for HRD Prakash Javadekar and RLP Convener Hanuman Beniwal.
Beniwal told the media: "The country's development is our utmost priority. We will stand together to ensure Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister again. The Congress has ruined our nation. Now is the time to rectify things."
Javadekar announced that Beniwal will contest from Nagaur against Congress' Jyoti Mirdha.
"I will fight from Nagaur and I will also campaign across the country for the party," added Beniwal, a MLA from Khinvsar.
Earlier, Beniwal had planned to join hands with the Congress. However, the Congress spurned the RLP offer.
This is Beniwal's third tenure as MLA in Rajasthan. In 2013, he contested as an Independent after being suspended from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) following his remarks about corruption among party leaders.
He launched RLP in Jaipur on October 29, 2018 and won three seats in the Assembly polls.