Madhya Pradesh Congress Suffers Blow as Suresh Pachouri and other Senior Leaders Jump Ship to BJP

In yet another setback for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, former Union minister and senior party leader Suresh Pachouri, along with several former MLAs and MPs, officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday. Pachouri, echoing sentiments expressed by other Congress defectors to the BJP, highlighted the Congress party's decision to abstain from the Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration ceremony and the grand old party’s alleged inability to connect with the masses as a significant factor in his decision to switch parties.

Other Congress leaders that followed suit and joined the BJP along with Suresh Pachouri include former Indore-1 MLA Sanjay Shukla, former Congress Dhar MP Ganjendra Singh Rajukhedi, former MLAs Vishal Patel, Arjun Palia, Satpal Palia, and former Bhopal District Congress president Kailash Mishra.

Suresh Pachouri along with the other Congress leaders joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at the party's state headquarters on Saturday morning. They were welcomed into the party by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state BJP president VD Sharma, and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"Congress has alienated from the principles and policies it has been known for. It has alienated itself from the public and is unable to establish a relationship,” said Pachouri addressing a battery of media after he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“It seems Rahul Gandhi will breathe easy only after finishing off the Congress. It will be in line with what Mahatma Gandhi suggested the Congress should do. All good leaders in Congress are fed up with the party's rudderless and directionless state. The Congress appears to be on the verge of extinction,” said former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan while welcoming the Congress leaders to the folds of BJP.

Suresh Pachouri had close ties with the Gandhi family and served as Union Minister of State for Defence and was a four-time Rajya Sabha member for the Congress. He held key roles in the party, including Madhya Pradesh unit president and Youth Congress state unit president.