Ex-Bhind MP & BSP leader Ramlakhan Singh joins BJP

Bhopal: Former Lok Sabha member Ramlakhan Singh of the BSP, ex-Congress MLA Neelesh Awasthi, former legislator and Congressman Ajay Yadav, among others, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday as the saffron outfit continued to induct leaders from rival parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Welcoming them in the ruling party at a function here, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the BJP's family was continuously growing under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"You all have joined the party after being inspired by the BJP's ideology and policies of Modiji. I welcome you," he added.

This was the third time that Ramlakhan Singh has joined the BJP. In the past, he had left the BJP on two occasions and joined the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

He is a former BJP Lok Sabha member from Bhind.

Over the last few months, Congress leaders are joining the BJP in droves in Madhya Pradesh.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has set a target of inducting 1 lakh Congress workers and leaders in its fold as part of a strategy to win all the 29 seats in the state, according to a senior leader of the ruling outfit.

On the other hand, state Congress chief Jitu Patwari has lashed out at party deserters, saying they have no political future after switching sides.

The BJP has set a specific target to induct 50,000 Congress workers from Chhindwara, the home turf of former chief minister Kamal Nath, and asked its district unit to achieve this goal, another saffron party leader said.

Chhindwara was the only Lok Sabha seat that the BJP lost to the Congress in 2019.

"I think around 50,000 workers, including influential Congress leaders unhappy in the party, have already joined the BJP," claimed state BJP chief VD Sharma.

He said Congress is seeing 'exodus' at district, tehsil, block and booth levels across the state.

Sharma, seeking a second term in the Lok Sabha from Khajuraho, claimed at least 1 lakh workers of the Congress across the state are going to switch over to the BJP before voting concludes in Madhya Pradesh, where polling will take place in four phases in April-May. P