Sheopur: Congress suffered a yet another blow in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday as its veteran leader and six-time MLA Ramniwas Rawat and Morena mayor Sharda Solanki switched to BJP in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls here.
The two joined BJP at a rally in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and several senior party leaders, including state president VD Sharma and former home minister Narottam Mishra. The move came a day after Congress's Indore candidate Akshay Bam withdrew his nomination and joined the saffron party.
According to party sources, the move is a huge jolt to the party in the Chambal region as Rawat is considered to be a prominent OBC leader here. His switching over to BJP may affect Congress's electoral performance in Morena and Sheopur. Voting in the Chambal-region seats will be held in the third and fourth phases.
Rawat was elected for the sixth time from Vijaypur seat in 2023 Assembly elections. He had then defeated former BJP MLA Babulal Mevra. This apart, Rawat had also contested the Lok Sabha elections twice from Morena seat.
Rawat was a minister in the Digvijay Singh government and held many positions in the party. He had also served as state working president of Congress. There are speculations that he may be appointed as a minister in the current BJP government.
On the other hand, Solanki was elected a Congress mayor from Morena.
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