BHOPAL: Two days before the third phase of the LS polls on Tuesday,
Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA
Nirmala Sapre joined BJP on Sunday at a rally of CM Mohan Yadav in Sagar’s Rahatgarh. Sapre is the third state Congress MLA to switch to the
saffron camp
this election season.
Sapre said she was “pained” by state Congress chief
Jitu Patwari
‘s “indecent remarks” against Imarti Devi, a BJP functionary who is a Dalit like her.
Sapre called the jibes the “trigger” for her crossover. Patwari has been booked over the barbs.
Spare claimed Congress neither had a govt nor an agenda. “I have joined BJP to get my area developed. We cannot do that by staying in Congress,” she said. Sapre represents Bina, the lone Congress-held assembly seat among eight in Sagar LS constituency. She had defeated two-time BJP MLA Mahesh Rai by 6,000 votes in polls last year.
Five days ago, as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi campaigned in MP’s Bhind, six-time party MLA Ram Niwas Rawat – the party’s OBC face from Chambal region – joined BJP. On March 29, Amarwara (Chhindwara) MLA Kamlesh Shah switched sides, dealing a shock to Congress on Kamal Nath’s turf.
