A Congress spokesperson said the party is not affected by those leaving. (file)
Chhindwara:
Amid suspense over veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath’s next political move, several local party leaders from his stronghold Chhindwara district joined the BJP on Wednesday.
Welcoming him to the BJP, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav cryptically said that many people were feeling worried and that he would eventually join the BJP in the coming days.
The Congressmen who joined BJP in the presence of Mr. Yadav included State Congress General Secretary Ujjwal Singh Chauhan, councilor, sarpanch, district members and workers.
A Congress spokesperson said the party is not affected by those leaving.
Addressing a public meeting, the Chief Minister said, “Many people are feeling worried. If not today or tomorrow, they will join the BJP family. No one in the world will be able to stop this from happening.”
He also appealed to the people to ensure BJP’s victory in Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency.
Chhindwara was previously represented nine times by Kamal Nath, but the seat is currently held by his son Nakul Nath. This is the only constituency that the BJP failed to wrest from the Congress in the 2019 elections when the BJP swept Madhya Pradesh by winning 28 out of 29 seats. The Chhindwara district BJP president claimed that 1,500 Congressmen, including more than 700 from the newly created Pandhurna district, joined the BJP.
The new entrants to BJP include Pandhurna Municipality President Sandeep Ghatode, Municipality Councilor, Pandhurna District District Member, 16 Sarpanch and others.
Pandhurna is one of the seven assembly constituencies under Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency.
Mr Yadav said, “I came to Chhindwara today to thank the people of Madhya Pradesh for bringing BJP to power with a mandate of 163 seats (in the assembly elections).
The Chief Minister also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various development projects worth Rs 104 crore.
“No power in the world will be able to stop Madhya Pradesh from developing under the leadership of PM Modi. This is the time of Narendra Modi and BJP government. This is the government of the poor. More than 25 crore people can come out.” Poverty in the country, including 2.5 crore in MP, is only because of PM Modi.
Shri Yadav also took out ‘Jan Abhaar Yatra’ from Imlikheda airstrip to the public meeting venue.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Anand Bakshi said that if some workers move to other parties, there will be no impact on the party and the organization.
“However, the question is, what will be the status of such people in other parties? They have got strength from the Congress organisation,” he said.
Speculations about Kamal Nath’s next political move are unstoppable, even as party leaders insist that he will stick with the grand old party that shaped his political career.
Congress general secretary Bhanwar Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said speculations about Mr Nath joining the BJP were not true and claimed that such talk was the creation of the media and the ruling party at the Centre.
A party leader had said that Mr Nath would participate in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra after entering Madhya Pradesh on March 2.
Notably, Mr Nath and other leaders had attended a meeting a day earlier to review preparations for the yatra.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
