New Delhi: Nearly 18 months after Ashok Tanwar left the Congress over factionalism, the party’s former Haryana unit chief is set to launch his own political outfit, looking to provide an electoral alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in the state.
Tanwar will launch the party Thursday at the Constitution Club of India in the national capital.
Speaking to ThePrint ahead of the launch, he said, “This is going to become an alternative to the Congress and BJP’s politics. BJP is corrupt and Congress is ‘chor’.”
Tanwar refrained from revealing the party name and other details. But he believes his move is going to rattle the political parties in Haryana.
Who is Tanwar?
Ashok Tanwar, a Jatav leader who started his career with the Congress’ student wing, took centrestage in Haryana politics in 2014 when ex-party president Rahul Gandhi brought him in as a fresh face to revive Dalit support.
However, the 44-year-old had constant fights with the former Haryana chief minister Bhupender Singh Hooda over political supremacy in the state. During Tanwar’s tenure, he failed to appoint district or block level presidents.
The final straw came ahead of the 2019 Haryana assembly elections, when his candidates were denied tickets. He resigned from his post, paving way for Kumari Selja to take over.
However, a big drama erupted days later at 10 Janpath, when Tanwar and his supporters staged a protest at Sonia Gandhi’s doorsteps over denial of tickets to his loyalists.
After quitting Congress the same month, Tanwar was seen supporting Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) briefly.
A close aide of Chautala told ThePrint on condition of anonymity, “He worked with us for two weeks. He has the potential and experience. It is good that Haryana gets another party for checks and balances on Hooda and Khattar.”
Also read: Why Pamela Goswami & Rakesh Singh’s ‘personal’ problems are creating trouble for Bengal BJP
No buzz, say rivals
The rival BJP and Congress, however, didn’t make much of Tanwar’s move to start his own party.
BJP leader Jawaher Yadav said, “Every citizen has a right to form his own party. But BJP does not see Tanwar as a rival. Tanwar’s new party will only work to weaken the Congress. BJP will be benefited in Haryana.”
The Congress too didn’t seem perturbed about Tanwar.
A senior party leader who did not want to be named said, “He was the state president of the oldest party and yet could not even gather a hundred people at a rally. Now he is nobody, gathering mass support is too difficult for him. Not a single Congress karyakarta feels threatened by his political party. There is hardly talk or gossip about Tanwar.”
Replying to this, Tanwar said, “They are fearful of my political presence. They will not dare comment.”
However, political analysts say Tanwar is writing off his own career. “In Haryana, idealism does not work. In the past too, leaders like Bansi Lal had floated their own parties, but it didn’t work. Tanwar is neither a charismatic nor a community leader that appeal can bring lakhs of people to the rallies. There is no buzz about his political parties at the ground,” said political analyst Satish Tyagi.
Also read: How the ‘ignored’ Patidar community helped AAP emerge big in Surat civic polls in Gujarat