Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Jabalpur Mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh 'Annu' has left the Congress party and joined BJP on Wednesday. He took the membership of the saffron party in Bhopal in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state BJP chief VD Sharma, former MP home minister Narottam Mishra and PWD minister Rakesh Singh.
The switch comes as a major jolt to Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Recently, tribal leader from Jabalpur Ekta Thakur also left Congress and took membership of BJP.
Didn't want to contest Lok Sabha elections
According to sources, Congress wanted Annu to contest the Lok Sabha elections this time. His single name was sent from Jabalpur. It is said that Annu was not at all ready to contest the Lok Sabha elections, which is why he decided to say goodbye to Congress.
It is noteworthy that the tenure of Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha is coming to an end in 2028, hence Congress is looking for a candidate in Jabalpur.
First Congress Mayor from Jabalpur in 18 years
Notably, in the 2022 mayor elections Congress had managed to win the Mayor seat in Jabalpur after 18 years. He had defeated BJP’s contender Jitendra Namdar by more than 44,000 votes.
Earlier this year, Jagat Bahadur Singh had flagged the poor financial condition of the state and said that it is hindering development works in Jabalpur. Singh had said that the Jabalpur divisional commissioner will write a letter in this regard to the state government and the councillors will soon meet Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
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