Bhopal: In a setback to the BJP, a former Congress legislator returned to the party fold ahead of Assembly elections in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi on Friday.
Pushpraj Singh, a former Maharaj of erstwhile princely state of Rewa, is the father of BJP legislator Divyaraj Singh and a three-time MLA in the previous Digvijaya Singh government. He had earlier left the Congress and joined the Samajwadi Party.
“After hours of discussion with senior party leaders, including party chief Rahul Gandhi, I am delighted to announce my return to Congress,” Pushpraj told the media.
Rahul Gandhi is in Rewa as part of his two-day visit to the Vindhya region.
Pushpraj was a state minister in Digvijaya Singh government. He had switched to SP after being denied a party ticket in 2008. But he disassociated himself from the Samajwadi Party too after losing the election.
Again in 2013, he was promised a Congress ticket, but was later denied. Meanwhile, the BJP roped in his son Divyaraj Singh and he got a victory from Sirmaur.
Of late, speculations were rife that Pushpraj could join the BJP and contest the assembly polls against senior Congress leader Ajay Singh from Churhat in Sidhi district.
Due to his royal lineage, Pushpraj enjoys sizable support among the dominant Thakurs in the region.
Leader of Opposition and a seasoned campaigner, Ajay Singh, reportedly persuaded Pushpraj into returning to the Congress to foil the BJP’s plans.
Now, the Congress could field Pushpraj against minister Rajendra Shukl, a sitting MLA from Rewa. Earlier, the Congress had inducted Abhay Mishra, husband of BJP MLA Neelam Mishra to the party folds in March this year.
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