Jaipur: Banswara MP Rajkumar Roat Sunday rejected Congress’s claim that around 300 Bharat Adivasi Party workers had joined it, accusing the party of using pressure tactics to weaken the tribal outfit.Escalating his feud with senior Congress leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, Roat said the move would backfire, claiming more than 1,000 Congress workers were in touch with BAP and preparing to switch sides.“Malviya has done this before and is doing it again. The entire joining programme was organised only to create the impression that BAP is losing ground in the tribal belt,” Roat alleged.He maintained that only “three or four” of those who joined Congress had any connection with BAP. “The rest were never our workers. This is an attempt to create a false perception,” he said.TOI reached out to Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya through calls and text messages, but he was unavailable for comment.Congress sources said the party leadership had advised Malviya not to make any further public statements on the issue to avoid escalating the row. Some leaders admitted privately that the public induction event had become a “self-goal”, as it not only further strained Congress’s already uneasy relationship with BAP but also sparked fresh murmurs within the party over the handling of tribal politics.Roat also accused Malviya of trying to create divisions, alleging that the Congress leader had earlier played a similar role within his own party. “He created differences between former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra. Now he is trying to repeat the same politics in the tribal region,” he claimed.The BAP MP warned that Congress could pay a political price if the strategy continued. “If Malviya carries on with these tactics, the Congress will suffer in the local body elections. More than 1,000 Congress workers are in touch with us and are ready to join the BAP,” Roat said.
