Congress leader joins BJP in MP

In yet another setback to the Congress that is facing anti-incumbency, a party legislator Sanjay Pathak on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the former of corruption.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan accepted Pathak, who quit Congress two days ago, into his party.

"A senior leader of the state, member of the Vidhan Sabha of Madhya Pradesh and leader of several posts in Congress, our friend and companion Sanjay Pathak, is today becoming a part of theBJP," said Chauhan.

Before Pathak, several Congress leaders opted out of Congress across the country, including two leaders in Madhya Pradesh, to join BJP during the ongoing election season.

Pathak is being accused of joining BJP for the development of his mining business. The leader, however, brushed aside all the charges and said he chose to quit Congress because it was not focused on growth of the country rather had become private company working for the rise of a few leaders.

"There was no objective of staying in a party where the country and the state are not valued and people are in politics only for selfish motives. The Congress party which belonged to Gandhi and Nehru disintegrated. So it is better to work independently with respect, which the Bharatiya Janata Party has given me, and to do service for the state rather than working as a paid worker for the party which now functions as a private limited company," he said.