Scores of BJP activists from Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency, currently represented by party stalwart and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, have joined the Congress in Madhya Pradesh in the election year, the opposition party claimed today.
However, the ruling BJP has dismissed the Congress' claim as a "false rumour and a drama".
"Around 1,000 BJP workers from Vidisha have taken the membership of the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh," stated a release issued by the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) today.
The high-profile seat had been represented by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan five times in past.
Swaraj first won from the constituency in 2009 when she defeated Ch. Munavver Salim of the Samajwadi Party. She repeated the feat in 2014 when she tamed Lakshman Singh of the Congress.
BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee had represented the constituency in 1991.
The Congress said the BJP workers led by local party leader Santosh Kushwaha joined the opposition party in presence of newly-appointed MPCC president Kamal Nath.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Sajjansingh Verma, MP media inchagre Manak Agrawal, and media coordinator Narendra Saluja were present on the occasion among others.
"I welcome all these persons in the Congress party. They have come from an area which has been represented by the ruling party for the last 15 years. I called upon them that if they want to see the model of development then they should visit Chhindwara (represented by Kamal Nath). After watching developmental works there, you can easily understand the definition of development," Nath said on the occasion.
He appealed to the new entrants to go to people and tell them about the "misrule of the BJP".
When contacted, state BJP media incharge Lokendra Parashar said, "It is a Congress drama. Not a single BJP office-bearer has joined the Congress. They are spreading false rumours".
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