Chhattisgarh: Actor Anuj Sharma, folk dancer Radheshyam Barle join BJP

Popular Chhattisgarhi film actor Anuj Sharma and folk dancer Radheshyam Barle, both Padma Shri awardees, were on Thursday inducted into Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls scheduled at the end of this year.

Sharma, Barle, retired IAS officer Rajpal Singh Tyagi, state chief of 'Akhil Bharatiya Marar, Mali, Kushwaha, Maurya, Saini Mahasabha' Rajendra Nayak Patel, were among the 450 persons from different fields who joined the BJP in the presence of state unit chief Arun Sao, state in-charge Om Mathur and former chief minister Raman Singh.

Welcoming them, Sao said this is an auspicious sign for his party and also a signal to the ruling Congress that its countdown has begun as people were fed up of the misrule and corruption of the Bhupesh Baghel government.

The achievements and good governance of the Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instilled confidence in the people of the country in the last nine years, Sao claimed.

Barle joined the party along with 309 folk artistes while Sharma was inducted along with 52 persons, including artists, producers, directors, production manager of Chhattisgarh Film Industries and farmers, a BJP release said.

Similarly, as many as 28 heads of different Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities in Raipur division led by Nayak joined the party, it said.

In 2018, the Congress had registered a landslide victory winning 68 out of 90 Assembly seats, ending the 15-year rule of the BJP, which could get only 15 seats.

Bypoll victories have taken the Congress' current strength to 71, while the BJP's tally is down to 14.

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