Bhopal: Crossover to BJP of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Deputy Leader, Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi is viewed as a shrewd political move by the ruling party in a bid to temper the ignominy it suffered owing to allegations of debauchery against former minister Raghavji.
"BJP was feeling embarrassed after Raghavji episode and was desperate to contain the damage caused by it when the Assembly polls are just four months away and the purported act was being watched by people across the country through social media," senior political analyst, VD Mishra said.
In a double-whammy to Congress, Chaturvedi not only scuttled the no confidence motion his party was going to introduce in the House, but also announced his decision to join the saffron party this week.
"BJP`s floor managers sensed an opportunity in Chaturvedi on July 11, when the house was scheduled to begin discussion on the no-confidence motion against chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and virtually pulled a coup of sorts by engineering Choudhary`s defection at the eleventh hour," Mishra said.
Raghavji was sacked and subsequently arrested on the charge of sodomy levelled by his domestic help.
After the assembly was adjourned sine die because of ruckus created by the ruling party and opposition members on the issue, Chaturvedi, along with Chouhan, reached the State BJP Office to announce that he will be joining the saffron outfit.
Chaturvedi, a fourth term MLA from Bhind Assembly constituency, had also served as a minister in the erstwhile Congress government led by Digvijay Singh.
Chaturvedi said he was opposing the no-trust motion because he found a tweet by Digvijay Singh hurting to his religious sentiment.
He was expelled by Congress which termed him as a "traitor".
PTI
