Jolt to Congress in MP as several leaders switch to BJP

Bhopal, Feb 7 : In a major jolt to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, several leaders of the grand old party on Wednesday switched to the BJP on Wednesday.

Congress leader and Jabalpur Mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh, also known as Annu, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday at the saffron partys office here.

He was welcomed by senior BJP leaders, including Kailash Vijayvargiya and Narottam Mishra.

Singh was elected the mayor of Jabalpur on Congress ticket.

At one point, he was also considered close to former Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

In another jolt to the Congress, ex-CM and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singhs close aide and party leader Sumer Singh also joined the BJP in the presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday.

During Digvijaya Singhs tenure as the CM, Sumer Singh had been appointed as a member of the state Public Service Commission.

He is even considered as a "family member" of Digvijaya Singh.

He was also elected as the district panchayat president of Guna from Congress during the period 2010-15.

The Congress also received a setback in Dindori as all Zilla Panchayat members of the grand old party, including its president, joined the BJP on Wednesday.

According to political observers, more switching is likely to take place ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

pd/pgh