Another Congress legislator in Madhya Pradesh resigned on Thursday and joined the BJP later, bringing down the Congress strength in the Assembly to 89.
Stating that the resignation of Mandhata MLA Narayan Patel had been accepted, Vidhan Sabha pro-tem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma said, “He had given me his resignation on Wednesday which I asked him to reconsider. But he appeared before me today saying he wanted to stick to his decision.”
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On July 17, Nepanagar MLA Sumitra Devi Kasdekar had also resigned and joined the BJP, days after Congressman Kunwar Pradyumna Singh Lodhi had done so. He was later appointed as the Chairman of the State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. and accorded a Cabinet rank.
Mr. Patel, the 25th Congress leader to have switched over to the BJP since March, joined the party at its office here in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and party State president V.D. Sharma.
Desperation and despair
“The Congress is going through a phase of desperation and despair,” said Mr. Chouhan. “During the Congress regime, public representatives suffocated as development works had remained stalled.”
After taking the BJP membership, Mr. Patel told reporters he was not upset with anyone. “This is for my people’s progress. I thought about it. I understood that only the BJP can develop the State and the country.”
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Questioning MLAs for leaving the Congress, its State spokesman Durgesh Sharma said, “What is the reason that you sell the vote of people like this? You have betrayed them and they will give you a reply. You have resigned from the seat where they elected you. You are rejecting their mandate for your own vested interests.”
Currently, 27 Assembly seats lie vacant in the 230-member House after 22 Congress MLAs, including 19 supporters of former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, had resigned in March, bringing down the 15-month Kamal Nath government. They joined the BJP along with Mr. Scindia, now a Rajya Sabha MP. The BJP’s strength stands at 107 MLAs.
