A third key leader of the Congress from Madhya Pradesh has made a beeline for the BJP, with a thousand supporters on a day Rahul Gandhi is campaigning in the state. Former Congress minister and six-time MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP at a huge rally Sheopur today in presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state party chief VD Sharma, and former home minister Narottam Mishra.
At the time, Rahul Gandhi was addressing a gathering in neighbouring Bhind district.
Mr Rawat, 64, is the sitting MLA from Vijaypur and one of the prominent Congress leaders in the Gwalior-Chambal region. The Vijaypur Assembly segment falls under the Morena Lok Sabha constituency, the home district of BJP veteran and Assembly Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar.
Mr Rawat is the second sitting Congress MLA to join the BJP since the elections have been announced. On March 29, Kamlesh Shah, MLA from the Amarwada assembly segment in Chhindwara, considered close to former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, joined the BJP.
Since March, there has been an exodus of Congress leaders to the BJP camp. A handful of leaders quit the party in March.
Ten days ago, former MLA Hari Vallabh Shukla crossed over in Bhopal along with his supporters and other leaders.
Yesterday, Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination from the Indore constituency ahead of the elections in Indore, due on May 13. Within hours, he joined the BJP. The Congress had fielded Mr Bam against sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani.
The defections come as the BJP — which swept the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as well as last year’s assembly elections — is hoping for a repeat performance.
Madhya Pradesh has 29 Lok Sabha seats, of which 28 were won by the BJP in 2019. The exception was Chhindwara, traditionally a Congress bastion.
Now, with former Chief Minister Kamal Nath fielding his son Nakul Nath from the constituency instead of contesting himself, confidence is high in the BJP camp. Â
Mohan Yadav’s predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan has told NDTV that the BJP will win all seats, including Chhindwara and Raigarh, from where senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is contesting.
