Setback for Congress, former Union minister joins BJP

New Delhi, March 9

The Congress suffered a major setback in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday with former Union minister and a confidante of the Gandhi family, Suresh Pachouri joining the BJP in Bhopal.

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Ending a five decade association with the Congress, Pachouri, 71, said he joined the Congress to serve the country. “Now they are talking about caste. In the last few days, the political and religion-related decisions taken by the Congress made me very uneasy,” Pachouri said in reference to the party’s decision not to attend the Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya and Rahul Gandhi’s caste census pitch.

“I have served in the Defence Ministry. Never were questions raised about the Army’s bravery. There was never a talk to provide ‘evidence’ (as sought by Congress leaders regarding the ‘surgical strikes’),” Pachouri said justifying the switch in the presence of Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, state BJP chief VD Sharma and former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Hailing Pachouri’s decision, Chouhan said, “Pachouri ji has joined the BJP without any conditions. When he was asked about it, he said the Congress has become irrelevant and doesn’t have any leadership or policy. Pachouri ji has come to the BJP to serve the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. The Congress is on the verge of extinction.” Other prominent Congress leaders who joined BJP were former MLAs Sanjay Shukla, Arjun Paliya, and Vishal Patel.