Amidst the news of Ex-BJP MLA Manvendra Singh quitting BJP, here comes another from Madhya Pradesh, where BJP leader Padma Shukla has exited from the party and joined Congress. She also resigned from the post of chief of Madhya Pradesh Social Welfare Board. She held a rank of cabinet minister and had been a BJP member since 1980.
In a letter written to BJP state Chief Rakesh Singh, she expressed her disappointment regarding the mistreatment of her workers in the Vijayraghavgarh constituency. Her letter read, “I have been a primary member of the party since 1980 and have discharged my duties accordingly. I am upset because of the negligence and exploitation of the party workers in Vijayraghavgarh constituency post-2014 by-polls. Thus, I am resigning from the primary membership of the party, reported ANI. She has an ongoing tussle with MP minister Sanjay Pathak who is troubling the workers and hence she found it hard to get along with him.
Addressing the Media on Monday she said, “I tried to work with Madhya Pradesh Minister Sanjay Pathak for 2 years, but that seemed impossible. He used to humiliate BJP workers. It was hurting me & damaging self-respect of my workers”, quoted a news website. Sanjay Pathak had contested against Shukla in 2013 assembly election from Congress and won by a margin of 929 votes. However, he quit the Congress in 2014 and joined BJP. He also contested the by-poll and won the seat and was made a minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s current government.
Padma Shukla joined the Congress party along with 150 party workers in the presence of Congress Leader, Kamal Nath. Nath said the reporters that Shukla joined Congress as she wants to stand with righteousness. She also expressed interest in contesting upcoming polls in the state if Congress accepts her candidature. She said,” If the Congress party considers me eligible then I will contest elections for them from the Vijayraghavgarh constituency.” The assembly polls are going to be held by end of this year.