Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Friday issued a statement, which clarified that the party's state media cell vice- chairman Narendra Saluja did not leave the Congress, but was expelled on November 13 due to anti-party activities. Narendra Saluja, who is a close aide of former chief minister Kamal Nath, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday.
The statement read, "The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee has received factual information that you (Narendra Saluja) is continuously making derogatory and inappropriate statements about senior leaders of the Congress party. Your activities are also anti-party. This act of yours comes under the category of indiscipline, so you are expelled from the membership of the Congress party for six years."
Also read:Setback to Cong in MP as senior functionary Narendra Saluja joins BJP in wake of Kamal Nath-Sikh event row
Saluja said he joined the BJP after questions were raised by members of the Sikh community over the felicitation of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath, who was facing allegations in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, in Indore earlier this month. A row had erupted after Kamal Nath was felicitated by organisers at a Sikh religious event held at Khalsa College in Indore on November 8.
Saluja said, "I have decided to join the BJP in the wake of protests after the felicitation of Kamal Nath in Indore on November 8, on the issue of his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots." "The words of noted Kirtankar Manpreet Singh Kanpuri in protest against Nath’s role in the 1984 riots are still echoing in my ears since then. Therefore, I decided to join the BJP," he said.
