In a major setback back to Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh ahead of Lok Sabha polls, former union minister Suresh Pachouri on Saturday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Besides Mr Pachouri, four other senior Congress leaders, including former MP Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi, ex-MLAs Sanjay Shukla, Arjun Paliya, and Vishal Patel, also took the saffron plunge and joined the ruling BJP.
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Pachouri, once a Gandhi-family loyalist, said that the Congress party has “alienated itself from its principles and policies”.
“It has alienated itself from the public and is unable to establish a relationship,” he said while addressing the media after joining the BJP.
Pachouri was a prominent Congress face in Madhya Pradesh and served as the grand old party’s state president. He was also elected to Rajya Sabha on Congress ticket four times.
Madhya Pradesh BJP chief VD Sharma welcomed Pachauri, calling him a ‘saint’ in the politics of Madhya Pradesh.
“Someone who does clean politics, who is considered a ‘saint’ in the politics of Madhya Pradesh has joined the BJP today. He has expressed confidence in them (party leaders). He has said that he wants to work for the country, without any conditions…He said that those who questioned the Army, who declined the invitation to the (Pran Pratishtha of) Ram Temple need to be given a reply to…I welcome him to the party,” Sharma said.
Taking a potshot at the Congress over its latest high profile exit before Lok Sabha elections, former MP CM and BJP’s Bhopal candidate Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that it seems Rahul Gandhi will breathe easy after finishing off the grand old party.
“It seems Rahul Gandhi will breathe easy only after finishing off the Congress. It will be in line with what Mahatma Gandhi suggested the Congress should do. All good leaders in Congress are fed up with the party’s rudderless and directionless state. The Congress appears to be on the verge of extinction,” Chouhan said.
