Datia, October 20: In a major setback to Congress ahead of upcoming state assembly polls scheduled to be held next month in Madhya Pradesh, its leader Bhanu Thakur joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after he was denied a ticket from the Bhander assembly constituency in Datia district. Thakur took the membership of the BJP in the presence of state home minister Narottam Mishra in the district on Friday.

After taking the membership, he told ANI, "Today, I have taken membership of BJP under the guidance of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narottam Mishra. We will try our best. We will also be successful in forming a BJP government in 2023 with a full majority." Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023: 41 New Faces, Five BJP Turncoats in Congress Second List of 85 Candidates for MP Polls.

Bhanu Thakur Joins BJP Ahead of MP Polls

Thakur further alleged that because of former CM and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, he left the Congress and joined the BJP. "I resigned from the party because of Digvijaya Singh. I was very hurt. They have given the ticket from the Bhander assembly constituency to such a person who is against Sanatan Dharma, against Hindutva, who abuses our Gods and Goddesses. I am very hurt by Digvijaya Singh and to some extent I am also sad with his working style. He (Singh) murdered my political career. The public wanted me, but they (Congress) did not give me the chance. I left Congress only because of Digvijay Singh," Thakur added.

On the other hand, Narottam Mishra took a dig at the Congress party and claimed that there was a situation of panic in the Congress and that they were a sinking ship. "There is a situation of panic in the Congress in the entire state and naturally, the Congress is a sinking ship," Mishra said. Notably, the Congress party announced the name of its candidate for the Bhander constituency in its first list itself though BJP's candidate has yet to be announced for the seat. Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2023: Congress Releases Second List of 85 Candidates for Polls; Check Candidate Names and Their Constituencies.

Nonetheless, the Congress party replaced its candidate from the Datia assembly constituency in the district in its second list of candidates which was announced on Thursday late night. Earlier, Awadesh Nayak was fielded from the seat now Rajendra Bharti would contest from the seat while BJP fielded Narottam Mishra from the seat.

Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to undergo assembly polls on November 17. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies. The election would be conducted in one phase in the state and the counting would be done on December 3.

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