Haryana stunner: Campaigning for BJP, Ashok Tanwar joins Congress mid-rally

In a dramatic turn of events just days before the Haryana assembly elections, former Congress MP Ashok Tanwar, a prominent Dalit leader in Jat-dominated Haryana, rejoined the Congress on Thursday in the presence of Rahul Gandhi.

This political ghar wapsi (comeback) came just an hour after Tanwar was seen seeking votes for the BJP in Safidon of Jind district, leaving the BJP in a tight spot.

Tanwar, a former Haryana Congress president, made a striking entry at a Congress rally as Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was delivering his speech. As Gandhi was wrapping up, an announcement was made asking the crowd to stay back for a special moment. Moments later, Tanwar appeared on stage, and the announcement followed: “Aaj unki ghar wapsi ho gayi hai” (today, he has come back home).

Tanwar shook hands with Gandhi and was warmly welcomed by former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who embraced the returning leader and patted him on the back. Tanwar's return to Congress after a five-year hiatus is now being seen as a significant boost for the party.

With his rejoining, Tanwar's political journey has come full circle. Once the chief of Haryana Congress, he left the party in 2019 amid internal conflicts. He was succeeded by Kumari Selja, another influential Dalit leader.

Since then, Tanwar experimented with multiple political affiliations — aligning with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and even floating his own outfit, Apna Bharat Morcha. In 2022, he joined the BJP, praising PM Narendra Modi's leadership and the "transformation" under his governance.

Tanwar's political career saw early success when, in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he defeated Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) candidate Sita Ram by 35,499 votes from Sirsa (SC). However, his fortunes changed in 2014 when he lost to Charanjeet Singh Rori of INLD by a margin of 1.15 lakh votes, and again in 2019, suffering a major defeat to the BJP’s Sunita Duggal by over 3 lakh votes.

His return to Congress is expected to strengthen the party’s position especially among Dalit voters, just as the state braces for the upcoming assembly elections on 5 October.

Tanwar’s activism can be traced back to his student days at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where he obtained an MA, MPhil., and PhD in medieval Indian history. His prominence grew after contesting for the JNU students' union presidency.

Rahul Gandhi spotted his potential early and appointed him NSUI (National Students' Union of India) secretary in 1999 and later its president in 2003, a testament to Gandhi’s knack for identifying rising stars within the organisation.

Tanwar was also president of the Indian Youth Congress, an organisation that has groomed senior Congress leaders like Randeep Singh Surjewala and Manish Tewari.

As Tanwar returns to the party he once led in Haryana, his "ghar wapsi" is seen as a strategic win for Congress, with the potential to alter the electoral landscape in the days leading up to the crucial elections.