Jaipur, Mar 16 (IANS): Ummedaram Beniwal, who contested the Assembly elections twice from the Baytoo constituency in Barmer as a Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) candidate, resigned from the party and joined the Congress on Saturday in the presence of state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra at the party headquarters here.

Dotasra said, “Ummedaram Beniwal is a mass leader who has a strong fan following. Coming from a farming community, he is connected to his roots.”

“I have full confidence that your arrival will strengthen the Congress party and the issues of farmers, Dalits and weaker sections will get strengthened," he added.

Beniwal lost to Congress MLA Harish Chaudhary in the Baytoo assembly seat by only 910 votes in the elections held in December last year. The political equations of Barmer district will change with Ummedaram joining the Congress. He was the prominent face of Hanuman Beniwal's party RLP in Barmer. The Congress may give a Lok Sabha ticket to Ummedaram Beniwal from Barmer, said party sources.

Earlier, the Congress had plans to ally with the RLP however, Harish Chaudhary and many leaders protested in Barmer against an alliance with the RLP. Now, instead of forging an alliance with the RLP in Barmer, the Congress has inducted its probable Lok Sabha candidate into the Congress. This has been done as part of a strategy, said sources adding,that “Beniwal wanted his wife to be given the Congress ticket from Barmer. However, party leaders were not keen on this as Hanuman Beniwal had won the assembly polls with a small margin. Also, he had been quite vocal against the Congress and its leaders so it would have given a wrong projection of the party, its leaders told IANS.