BJP says 400 Congress functionaries from Chhindwara have joined party

The BJP said 400 Congress functionaries from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh joined the ruling party on Thursday ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

These include Ajay Saxena, son of Deepak Saxena, a four time MLA from Chhindwara who is considered close to senior Congressman Kamal Nath, and Balram Patel, who claims to be distant relative of the grand old party's state unit chief Jitu Patwari.

Chhindwara is the stronghold of Nath and the only seat the Congress won in MP, which has 29 seats, in the 2019 general elections.

Deepak Saxena, who had quit his seat in 2019 to allow Kamal Nath to fight the Assembly bypoll so that the latter could remain MP chief minister, has sent his resignation to Patwari and and sources said he is likely to join the BJP.

Balram Patel told PTI he was a ''distant cousin'' of Patwari and claimed the latter had tried to dissuade him from joining the BJP. Patel said he joined the BJP due to the weak leadership of the Congress, which he claimed had deviated from its ideology.

''I was hurt when the Congress, of which I was member for 18 years, declined the invite to the Ram Temple idol consecration held on January 22,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Patwari told PTI Patel was not related to him, adding that ''opportunists and those who have been expelled from the Congress are joining the BJP''.

Patwari is in New Delhi where the party is going to announce candidates for 18 seats in MP.

The Congress is going to get revitalised and will be roaring in MP in the next five years, Patwari asserted.

In a press release issued in the evening, the BJP said 400 leaders, including Patel and Saxena, joined the BJP to serve the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)