Bhopal: In Madhya Pradesh, MLA Samandar Patel, who toppled the Kamal Nath government of Congress by joining BJP along with Jyotiraditya Scindia, has again joined Congress.
Returning to the party, Scindia loyalist Samandar Patel said that he was feeling suffocated in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The magnitude of his political influence was evident as he led an impressive convoy of around 1200 vehicles, with an estimated 5000 supporters who rallied behind his decision.
This is not the first instance of a Scindia loyalist finding a new home in the Congress. Earlier in June, Shivpuri BJP vice-president Rakesh Gupta, another ardent Scindia supporter, also switched sides, claiming a lack of respect within the saffron party.
3 Scindia supporters have returned to Cong in last three months
In the last three months, three Scindia supporters have returned to Congress in a similar show of strength.
On June 14, BJP leader Baijnath Singh Yadav from Shivpuri broke ties with Scindia and joined the Congress with a rally of 700 cars. On the other hand, on June 26, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, the former vice-president of Shivpuri, also joined the Congress while holding a car rally.
Samandar Patel said, “I left the party along with Maharaj (Scindia), but soon I felt suffocated in the BJP. I was not invited to any programme and given neither respect nor power."
This is the second time Samandar Patel is joining the party. After not getting the ticket in 2018, he broke ties with the Congress and contested and won elections as an independent.
After this, before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he joined the Congress. But in March 2020, when Scindia rebelled with the Congress, Samandar Patel was also among the 22 Congress MLAs who supported him.
According to some reports, Jyotiraditya Scindia is facing an internal fight in Madhya Pradesh BJP. Tension continues between Scindia supporters and old BJP leaders.
'Samandar Patel's leaving the party could harm BJP'
A pro-Scindia leader told that Samandar Patel's leaving the party could harm the BJP.
This leader said, “Patel is a big leader in Neemuch. He was financially strong and used to cooperate with the party. He was like Scindia's lieutenant."
Samandar Patel, who started his political journey from the post of village sarpanch, is one of the richest leaders of Madhya Pradesh and his declared assets are 89 crores.
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