Congress MLA Sachin Birla joins BJP ahead of by polls

Law-maker from Barwaha, Sachin Birla, 39, joined BJP in the presence of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at a political programme in Bediya in Khandwa

Congress MLA, Sachin Birla, on Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of by polls on three assembly and a Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh.

Birla belongs to the Gurjar community and could help the BJP in getting the votes of the community. (ANI)

Law-maker from Barwaha, Sachin Birla, 39, joined BJP in the presence of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at a political programme in Bediya in Khandwa.

Barwaha assembly constituency comes under Khandwa Lok Sabha seat where by-poll will be conducted on October 30, necessitated after the death of BJP senior leader Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan. This year, BJP gave a ticket to Gyaneshvar Patil, an OBC candidate.

According to a Congress leader, Birla was in touch with BJP since last year but made this announcement now. Birla belongs to the Gurjar community and could help the BJP in getting the votes of the community.

He switched his side before Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s rally on October 27 in Khandwa to woo Gurjar voters. In 2018 assembly election, Birla won by 30,500 votes due to the support of Gurjar voters and other backward communities. Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency has more than 25,000 Gurjar voters.

After switching the party, Birla said, “I was feeling suffocated in the party so I left it and joined BJP. I was in Congress due to ideology but when the party lost it, I didn’t find any reason to stay in the party.”

BJP spokesperson Ashish Agrawal said, “Congress lost its existence and nobody wants to stay in a part of sycophants.”

However, Congress called it the murder of democracy.

MP Congress Committee president Kamal Nath said, “BJP realised that they are going to lose this election so they have started bargaining. They are killing democracy with money but voters know everything and will teach a lesson to BJP in this by-poll.”