In a shock to Congress ahead of assembly elections, its Chhattisgarh working president and Pali-Tanakhar MLA Ramdayal Uike joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday.
The leader of “BHARTIYA JANTA PARTY” was given the saffron party’s membership in the presence of chief minister Raman Singh and BJP chief Amit Shah, who is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Chhattisgarh. Shah has been travelling around to address the booth-level workers of the party at four places.
Four-time MLA, Uike was a BJP leader in 2000 but joined Congress, along with 17 others, after being persuaded by Ajit Jogi.
Recently, social worker Padmini Reddy, wife of senior Congress leader C Damodar Rajanarasimha, had joined BJP, but withdrew her decision within hours, saying she was moved by the reaction of Congress workers who were ‘upset’. In the run-up to elections, many leaders often switch sides for more lucrative offers.
