Madhya Pradesh BJP Launches Membership Drive In Gwalior Ahead Of Bypolls

With an eye on the upcoming by-elections to 27 assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, especially in the Gwalior-Chambal region of the state that accounts for 16 of these seats, the ruling BJP has launched a three-day membership drive in Gwalior today.

The drive began in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Narendra Tomar, Congressman-turned-BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and state BJP president VD Sharma, the party said.

A statement issued by the BJP on Friday claimed that a large number of Congress workers from all 26 constituencies in the Gwalior-Chambal region are set to join the party.

During the drive, Mr Chouhan, Mr Scindia, Narendra Tomar and VD Sharma will hold talks with the party's public representatives and office-bearers of the region to draw a strategy for the bypolls, the dates of which are yet to be announced, it added.

22 rebel Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh, mostly from Jyotiraditya Scindia's camp, resigned in March, reducing the Kamal Nath-led dispensation to a minority and paving way for the BJP to form a government in the state.

Jyotiraditya Scindia and MLAs loyal to him have joined the BJP.

The BJP has sent Mr Scindia to the Rajya Sabha, while many of his loyalists got important portfolios in Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet.

Last month, three more Congress MLAs resigned and moved over to the BJP, taking their number to 25, while two assembly seats have fallen vacant due to the death of legislators.

The Congress now has 89 MLAs in the House, while the ruling BJP has 107. The effective strength of the 230-member House has come down to 203 due to the resignations and deaths of legislators.

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