BHOPAL: With the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh just six months away, the Opposition Congress is working on a strategy of capitalising on discontent within old BJP families. The grand old party’s strategy began from the Gwalior-Chambal region and has continued in the Malwa-Nimar region, leaving political pundits guessing.
It all started on the Hindu New Year (March 22) when Rao Yadvendra Singh Yadav, elder son of three-times former BJP MLA Rao Deshraj Singh Yadav, from Ashok Nagar district joined the Congress. Late Rao Deshraj Singh Yadav’s family is considered the oldest Yadav family of BJP in that region and particularly has a major clout in the Mungaoli assembly seat of Ashok Nagar district, which was thrice won by late BJP stalwart. According to key state Congress sources, the party is exploring the possibility of fielding Yadvendra from Mungaoli seat, which is represented by Scindia-loyalist MP minister Brajendra Singh Yadav.
Just three months prior to this recent development, the Congress had won over present BJP MP KP Yadav’s brother Ajay Yadav in its ranks and might field him from another Yadav dominated seat of either Ashok Nagar or Shivpuri district.
Nine days later, Digvijaya Singh — the mastermind of creating dent in BJP’s Yadav family in Ashok Nagar district — was in Barwani district of southwest MP, winning yet another big BJP leader, this time former MP Makhansingh Solanki. Getting a whiff of Congress’s plans, the BJP had pressed its senior leader and state’s agriculture minister Kamal Patel to prevent Makhansingh from joining Congress, but the efforts failed. “Just wait and watch, you’ll have many leaders from big BJP families joining Congress ahead of polls,” a Congress leader told this Daily.
Process to see more BJP families joining Cong A state Congress leader said the process of capitalising on cracks within old families, particularly owing to feeling of insecurity among of old BJP leaders due to rising clout of Scindia-loyalists, will continue in the coming days and some more big BJP families in various parts of MP, are on the Congress’s radar.
