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Another MP Congress MLA joins BJP, Congress accuses saffron party of dirty politics
Three Congress MLAs have quit in the last two weeks from MP assembly.
Another Congress MLA dumped the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. Narayan Patel, the third MLA to quit the Congress in the last two weeks, joined the BJP within hours after his resignation from state assembly was accepted by the pro-tem speaker. Patel joined the party in the presence of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the party office in Bhopal, reported a news agency.
The recent resignations have prompted the Congress to accuse the BJP of “engineering defections” to cushion the party against any possible setbacks in the assembly by polls for 24 seats due to be held later this year.
63 year old Narayan Patel represented Mandhata assembly constituency in Khandwa district had resigned yesterday and confirmed his resignation to the speaker on Thursday, making it official.
Also Read: Another Congress MLA resigns from Madhya Pradesh assembly
He follows Pradyumn Singh Lodhi and Sumitra Devi Kasdekar, who quit from the state assembly and later joined the BJP. Lodhi was appointed the chairman of MP state civil supplies corporation within hours of joining the party.
Pradyumn Singh Lodhi represented Malhara assembly constituency in Bundelkhand region and Lodhi Savitri Devi represented Nepanagar (ST) state assembly seat in Burhanpur district.
Patel was unavailable for his comments, despite repeated attempts.
The Congress responded to the development by accusing the BJP of “overtly playing the dirty game of horse-trading” in a bid to save its government.
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Kamal Nath has maintained that his party will win the bypolls for 24 seats and wrestle back power from BJP. The Congress government fell after 22 Congress MLAs including senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party earlier this year.