Congress leader Siddharth Tiwari, former Congress MLA Phunder Chaudhary join BJP ahead of Madhya Pradesh assembly polls

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 18 : In a blow to the Congress party in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, two Congress leaders Siddharth Tiwari and Phunder Chaudhary joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday ahead of the assembly polls scheduled to held next month.
Tiwari is a grandson of former MP assembly speaker late Srinivas Tiwari and Chaudhary is a former MLA from Gunaur assembly constituency in Panna district.
Both the leaders took the membership of the BJP in the presence of BJP state chief VD Sharma and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the state capital Bhopal.
After taking the membership, Tiwari told ANI, "I have joined the BJP after getting impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan."
Coming down heavily on the Congress party, he said that the Congress became a contractor party and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi gave the contract of Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Nath.
"The Congress party has become a contractor party. Rahul Gandhi has given the contract of Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Nath and Nath has given a petty contract to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh. Kamal Nath is the contractor and Digvijay Singh is the petty contractor," Tiwari said.
When asked about contesting elections in the forthcoming assembly polls from the BJP, he said that he would do whatever the BJP asked him to do.
"I will do whatever task the BJP gives me. This time the BJP will get two more seats in Rewa-Vindhya region than that of the last time," he added.
On the other hand, after joining the party, former MLA Phunder Chaudhary said, "I come from Dalit community and no one listens to us in the Congress. When we call, no one picks our call. Tickets are given by taking money in the Congress party. I don't have money, that's why I was not given the ticket."
Choudhary further said that he would first work for the party and then he would get a ticket in future.
Meanwhile, reacting to congress leaders joining BJP, Congress national spokesperson Ragini Nayak said, "There is a movement of leaders at the time of elections. Congress has released a list of 144 candidates of the forthcoming assembly polls and if two to four voices of rebellion are heard or one or two leaders are seen joining some other party, then it is an exception to the protest. This is not a rule."
The Congress Party is ready to contest the elections with full coordination and with a united body, and there is commitment among the people. A little bit of movement of leaders will be seen joining and leaving. Two days ago, about 15 BJP leaders had joined the Congress party in the presence of Kamal Nath. The real issue is that the public wants the Congress party to win, she added.
Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to undergo assembly polls on November 17. The election would be conducted in one phase in the state and the counting would be done on December 3.