BJP MLA Sanjay Sharma joins Congress in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh

BHOPAL: Ruling BJP was in a for an early morning surprise in assembly poll bound Madhya Pradesh, as its two-time sitting MLA Sanjay Sharma joined the opposition Congress party in presence of national party president Rahul Gandhi at Indore on Tuesday.

Sharma, the two-time BJP legislator from Tendukheda seat of Narsinghpur district is presently the third richest MLA in MP, with assets worth Rs 65 crores, as declared by him during the 2013 assembly polls. He had won from Tendukheda seat in 2003 and 2013.

Sharma who was accompanied by senior Congress leader Suresh Pachouri joined the Congress in presence of all top leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and state party’s campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia.

It, however, remains to be seen whether he gets the Congress ticket to contest the polls from Tendukheda or not, particularly as the Congress national president had made it clear during his September 17 tour of Bhopal that no paratroopers (those joining the Congress from BJP or other parties) will be fielded as party candidates in the coming assembly polls in MP.

On Tuesday morning, while interacting with media editors in Indore, Rahul had dropped hints about some exceptions likely to his no-paratroopers allowed formula in the November 28 polls in MP.

According to informed sources within the ruling BJP, Sharma has joined the Congress, sensing that he would not be fielded this time by BJP from Tendukheda seat. His bête noire in BJP, the Lok Sabha member from Hoshangabad constituency Rao Udai Pratap Singh is likely to be fielded from Tendukheda assembly seat this time by the ruling party.

If Sharma is at all fielded by the Congress from Tendukheda, then his battle with Udai Pratap Singh of BJP would be an intriguing clash.

Talking to journalists in Indore after joining the Congress, Sharma said he was feeling suffocated in BJP under the leadership of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. “No development work was taking place in my constituency, only lip service was being done by the CM and state government in my constituency,” said Sharma.

The development is being seen as sweet revenge by ex-state Congress president and former union minister Suresh Pachouri, whose close aide Rao Udai Pratap Singh, who won the 2008 assembly polls from Tendukheda and 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Hoshangabad constituency, was won over by ruling BJP just before 2013 assembly polls in the state.

Rao Udai Pratap Singh subsequently retained the Hoshangabad Lok Sabha seat in 2014 as BJP candidate and is a frontrunner for contesting November 28 assembly polls as ruling party candidate from Tendukheda seat.

Sharma is perhaps the first sitting MLA of BJP to join Congress before the November 28 assembly polls and if sources within Congress are to be believed then many more sitting legislators of the ruling party could follow suit in the coming days.