Blow to BJP in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh as sitting MLA Virendra Raghuvanshi resigns from party

Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh) [India], August 31 (ANI): In a blow to the ruling BJP in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Virendra Raghuvanshi, a sitting MLA from Kolaras Assembly constituency in Shivpuri district, resigned from the party on Thursday.  In his resignation letter, running into two pages, the MLA alleged corruption and factionalism in the party. In his resignation letter, a copy of which is with ANI, the MLA wrote, “I am resigning from the primary membership of Bharatiya Janata Party as well as from the post of a special invitee member in the State Working Committee.

Over the last three and a half years, I put forward my misgivings to the chief minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) and the top leadership on a number of occasions. But neither the CM nor the party seniors paid heed to the issues that I flagged. Several workers, who joined the party only recently, kept ignoring old-timers like me in the entire Gwalior-Chambal division. This is what I got for working with diligence, sincerity and devotion ahead of the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.” He alleged that corrupt officials were being posted in the Shivpuri district and the Kolaras Assembly segment only so that they could place obstacles in his development work and harass him and his supporters.

“Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia toppled the Congress government (in MP) claiming it had not waived off farmers’ loans. However, ever since the formation of the BJP government, he has not raised the issue of farmers’ loans even once,” Raghuvanshi wrote in his letter. Raghuvanshi alleged further that some ministers and officials in the administration were involved in corruption.  “(Some) Ministers and administrative officials are neck-deep in corruption. The minister in charge of Shivpuri district himself said offerings, like the ones in temples, have to be made. Corruption has brought shame to the state.

This administration is autocratic. Several BJP leaders and workers are not heard and their concerns remain unaddressed,” he alleged in his letter. Significantly, Raghuvanshi was with the Congress earlier but later gravitated to the BJP saying that he was impressed with the work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Raghuvanshi said, “I was with the Congress earlier. However, in the Assembly elections of 2008 and 2013, my own party worked to ensure my defeat. I resigned after the defeat in the 2013 elections and involved myself in public service. Later, I joined the BJP as I was impressed and inspired by PM Modi’s work in 2014.” “When the BJP government was formed with the support of (Jyotiraditya) Scindia, the BJP old-timers were sidelined or exploited. Even now, they are being harassed and forced to leave the party. The ministers, who always flank Scindia, are harassing workers who have been with the party for a long time,” he alleged. 

On whether he was considering a return to the Congress, Raghuvanshi said he would not join any party without seeking suggestions and feedback from the public. I don’t aspire for any post,” he added. Responding to Raghuvanshi’s resignation, former chief minister and present Congress president, Kamal Nath, said, “We will consider if he wants to come with us.”