Jaipur, Mar 10 (IANS): As many as 25 Congress leaders in Rajasthan, including former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's close aide and former Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria, joined BJP here in the presence of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and state unit President C.P. Joshi on Sunday.

Former MLAs Richpal Singh Mirdha and Vijaypal Singh Mirdha were among the Nagaur’s prominent Jat leaders who joined the BJP

Over half a dozen senior leaders including three former ministers joined BJP, confirmed BJP leaders.

Former minister Khiladi Lal Bairwa, considered close to former deputy CM Sachin Pilot, and former Minister of State for Home Rajendra Yadav, also joined the party.

Bairwa said that he joined BJP considering the vision of PM Modi. “I was the chairman of the SC Commission. Then for one and a half years, I kept telling CM Gehlot to give constitutional status to the commission.

SC population is only 18 per cent. But Congress considers SC-ST as its puppets. However, BJP made Dalit Law Minister setting an example, he added.

Many BJP leaders including Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Deputy CM Diya Kumari, Rajendra Rathore, Alka Gurjar and Vijaya Rahatkar were present on the stage during the joining ceremony of these leaders.

Besides three former ministers and two Jat leaders who joined the BJP are: Alok Beniwal, Rampal Sharma, Ramnarayan Kisan, Anil Vyas, Omkar Singh Chaudhary, Gopal Ram Kukna, Ashok Jangid, Priya Meghwal, Suresh Choudhary, Rajendra Parswal, Shaitan Singh Mehrada, Ramnarayan Jhajhra, Jagannath Burdak, Karamveer Choudhary, Kuldeep Dheva, Bachchu Singh Chaudhary, Ramlal Meena, Mahesh Sharma, Ranjeet Singh and Madhusudan Sharma.