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Former Madhya Pradesh minister Deepak Saxena, a close ally of former chief minister Kamal Nath, left the Congress party on Thursday – the same day that his son Ajay Saxena joined the BJP along with 400 other Congress members from Nath’s bastion of Chhindwara.
Deepak Saxena told The Indian Express that he had no issues with Kamal Nath, with whom he has been associated for more than four decades, and that he had to leave the Congress because his son joined the BJP.
“I had no issue with Kamal Nath. My son wanted to join the BJP, and I tried to convince him not to take that decision. I don’t know why he left the party,” he said. “People would have said that the father and son are asking for votes in two different parties, so I had no choice but to leave (the Congress),” he added.
Ajay Saxena and the Congress functionaries who joined the BJP were welcomed by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and BJP state president V D Sharma.
Apart from Ajay, those who switched over from the Congress include state secretary of the Women’s Front from Chhindwara, Suhagwati Sareyam; in-charge of Junnardeo Vidhan Sabha seat Narendra Singh Thakur; district in-charge of the party’s student wing, National Students’ Union of India, Arish Khan; Municipal Corporation of Chhindwara councillor Ram Sharma; and chairman of the Chhindwara Municipal Corporation, Chandrabhan Devre.
In a letter addressed to Kamal Nath, Deepak Saxena wrote, “I will always be indebted and grateful to you for having faith and trust in a farmer like me and for involving me in active politics and considering me a part of the family.”
He began his career in politics after being appointed by Nath as the president of the District Cooperative Central Bank, Chhindwara. He was later picked as the Congress candidate for the state legislature. During the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, he served as a minister twice, and even after losing the Assembly election in 2003, he was again fielded from Chhindwara.
“You also appointed me twice as the legislative representative, for which I will always be grateful to you. My family will always be indebted to you. In the current circumstances, I will not be able to fulfil my responsibilities, which is why I am resigning from the position of legislative representative and all positions in the organisation,” he wrote.
Deepak Saxena had resigned as Chhindwara MLA in February 2019 to allow Kamal Nath to contest from the seat. When Nath had earlier resigned from Lok Sabha, there was speculation that Saxena would contest from Chhindwara parliamentary constituency, but it was Kamal Nath’s son Nakul who ended up getting the nomination.
Since then, sources suggest that Saxena has been feeling neglected by the Congress.
Apart from the 400-odd who joined the BJP in Chhindwara on Thursday, more than 1,500 Madhya Pradesh Congress members have joined the ruling party recently from Rewa, Satna Shahdol, Annupur and Jabalpur.
BJP’s State Coordinator of the New Joining Team, Narottam Mishra, claimed that “more than 200 leaders and workers are leaving Congress” every day.
“The situation in Congress has become such that they are asking each other to contest elections. After Holi, a Guinness World Record will be created in the state regarding membership,” Mishra said.
“More people have left the party from Madhya Pradesh alone than the total number of Congress members who have not left the party across the entire country. Madhya Pradesh is becoming free of Congress,” he claimed.
He also likened the Congress to a sinking ship and the BJP to the rising sun. “People are joining the BJP to become partners in the country’s development with the rising sun. People are also leaving Congress due to the directionless leadership and the continuous neglect of workers within the party. The Bharatiya Janata Party is a family, where everyone gets respect. Here, an ordinary worker can become a councillor, chief minister, and even prime minister. There is no future for the Congress party in current politics,” he said.
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