Partyhopper and cross-voter Narayan Tripathi is back with the BJP

Tripathi (whose return to the BJP occurred in the absence of former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan) had criticised Chouhan unreservedly and bitterly before cross voting in favour of the Congress in Assembly

It appears to be the season of changes. The man who had hit the headlines earlier in 2019 for voting in favour of the Congress, although he was the sitting BJP MLA from Maihar, Madhya Pradesh. Narayan Tripathi, has returned home to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming he had never left it.

Tripathi (whose ‘return’ to the BJP occurred in the absence of party leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan) had criticised Chouhan unreservedly and bitterly before cross voting in favour of the Congress in the Assembly. But a few days ago, BJP State Chief Rakesh Singh and Tripathi had a meeting. On his ‘re-joining’ BJP, Rakesh Singh said Tripathi’s cross-voting was a mistake and that he has always been in the BJP and will continue to remain in the party. Tripathi is quite a colourful character. He has changed five parties in the last 15 years. In 2003, he contested and won the Maihar assembly seat on a Samajwadi Party nomination. In 2013, he joined the Congress and became an MLA twice. Just before the 2019 elections, he joined the BJP. But as a BJP MLA he voted for the Congress in the no-confidence motion. And now, he is ‘formally’ back in the BJP.

Another possible floor crosser is in Rajasthan. A Congress MLA from Sangod in Kota, Bharat Singh has said that the Congress government in the state, led by Ashok Gehlot, is shielding the corrupt. He has resigned as MLA (the surest indication that he is preparing to jump the ship) and has quit the Congress. His specific allegation is that ministers in the Gehlot government have been taking bribes to award road-building contracts.