Bhopal:BJP MLA from Shivpuri Virendra Raghuvanshi resigned from the party's primary membership and is likely to join the Congress on September 2.
Raghuvanshi's resignation is undoubtedly a blow to the BJP and will have a huge impact on Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's family. Speculations are rife that he may contest against Yashodhara Raje Scindia on a Congress ticket.
In his resignation letter, Raghuvanshi has levelled allegations against Scindia faction saying many people like him in the Gwalior-Chambal region feel neglected. The 'old BJP' is dissatisfied with the Scindia faction, he said adding that he has informed the party leadership about his problems but no action has been taken.
Raghuvanshi further alleged that ministers and officers were corrupt and said that development work was getting stalled since there were corrupt officials in his constituency. He said that he was feeling suffocated in BJP and so decided to resign from the party. Nobody there was ready to discuss development work, he alleged.
Congress spokesperson Syed Zafar said that the political situation in Madhya Pradesh is such that Scindia loyalist and minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia was trying to bribe BJP MLA Raghuvanshi. He was hurt and left the party, Zafar said. He said that the Scindia faction is the main reason for discontentment in the party for the last three and a half years.
Also Read:Jyotiraditya Scindia in tight spot amid loyalists' defection, denial of ticket to supporter
Notably, three pro-Scindia leaders Baijnath Singh Yadav, Raghuraj Dhakad and Rakesh Gupta left the BJP and returned to the Congress. Now, after Raghuvanshi, it is believed that three more MLAs are ready to leave BJP and join Congress. The names of these leaders will come to the fore after BJP releases its second list of candidates.
