Kamal Nath's close aide, various other MP Congress functionaries join BJP

Bhopal: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, a close associate of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and some other functionaries of the opposition Congress joined the ruling BJP on Monday.

The Bahujan Samaj Party's state in-charge also joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Syed Zafar, a former Congress spokesperson, joined the BJP in Bhopal in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and the party's state head VD Sharma.

Zafar, a native of Chhindwara, was considered a close associate of Congress veteran and former chief minister Kamal Nath.

As per his profile on X, he was currently holding the post of MP Congress general secretary.

However, state Congress media department chairman K K Mishra said Zafar was not holding any post in the party at present.

Earlier this month, there were speculations that Nath might switch over to the BJP, but he refuted such reports as "creation of media." Besides Zafar, MP Congress general secretary Maneesha Dubey, some other party leaders and BSP's state in-charge Ramsakha Verma also joined the BJP after being influenced by the welfare schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and policies of the BJP, a spokesperson of the ruling party said.

Earlier this month, former Union minister Suresh Pachouri, former MP from Dhar Lok Sabha seat Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi and several other Congress leaders joined the BJP.