Manvendra Singh Jasol in many ways is a unique politician, being among the few politicians in the Hindi heartland to shift from the BJP to the Congress in the past five years. The same period saw a number of prominent faces do the reverse, such as Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada.
The son of late BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh, Manvendra Singh has been a member of Parliament from the Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha constituency and an MLA from the Sheo Assembly seat in Barmer district. Both these were on a BJP ticket.
However, Manvendra Singh's posturing ahead of the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections has put the Congress in a dilemma.
Manvendra Singh recently met Rahul Gandhi to supposedly to seek his support in his plan to contest the Rajasthan Assembly elections from Jaisalmer.
With the Congress taking its time to commit to Manvendra Singh, there was also some speculation that he could go back to the BJP.
What does Manvendra Singh want?
Why is the Congress in a dilemma?
This piece will try and answer these two questions and place them in the context of political equations in the Thar region.