New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said the party had taken sweet revenge by re-inducting BJP MLA Baijnath Singh Yadav, who had joined the saffron party along with Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2020.
In 2020, soon after Scindia moved to the BJP, the Congress lost over 20 MLAs loyal to him, which caused the fall of the Kamal Nath government, which had come to power in 2018. Ahead of the 2023 polls, Kamal Nath has been playing a key role in making the BJP leaders join the Congress.
In May, two former BJP ministers, Deepak Joshi, son of former chief minister Kailash Joshi and Radheylal Baghel had joined the Congress in the presence of Kamal Nath. Party insiders had said that both Deepak Joshi and Radheylal Baghel, who belong to the Brahmin and OBC groups respectively, had been feeling marginalised in the state BJP and had switched sides to strengthen the grand old party in the state.
Baijnath Singh Yadav’s return to the Congress was being seen as an indicator of things to come in the poll-bound state, said party insiders. Yadav belongs to the Shivpuri area, considered to be a stronghold of Scindia in the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh and can help the Congress swing crucial OBC votes in favour of the grand old party and help it take on the former royal in the coming polls.
“Baijnath Singh Yadav’s joining has given the Congress a boost in the Shivpuri area. Kamal Nath ji has taken sweet revenge for the 2020 defeat. There is a change in the mood of the Gwalior voters as also the voters across the state. The days of the royals are over. The Congress is going to do well this time,” AICC secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Sanjay Kapoor told ETV Bharat.
“There is a rush among the BJP leaders to join the Congress. More leaders are in the pipeline,” he said. Though the Congress is being steered by two veterans and former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh, the party is focusing on the area under the influence of Scindia, who is an important minister in the Modi government at the Centre.
According to senior state leader Shobha Oza, the Congress had done well in the local body polls in the Gwalior area and this shows a ground swell for the grand old party. “Things have changed over the past years due to the reworked strategy we deployed in the Gwalior region. Though Scindia is considered to have an influence, the Congress will do much better there. The local body polls in the area have been encouraging for us,” Oza told this channel.
“The BJP is like a rudderless ship. The chief minister has lost his charm and the senior BJP leaders are looking for greener pastures,” Kapoor said. At Baijnath Yadav’s joining event, Kamal Nath took a dig at Scindia saying the people had seen the Maharaja for long but it was not time for them to see Kamal Nath.
“It is a happy day. You are not being with the Congress but with the truth. The BJP’s politics of mere announcements and of corruption is going to end soon. I welcome Baijnath Singh Yadav and his supporters to the Congress,” said Kamal Nath.
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