Tremors in MP BJP after former minister seen chatting with Cong relative

BHOPAL: There was a sudden and hectic turmoil in political circles after former BJP minister Kamal Patel was spotted near the state Congress office on Friday evening. With assembly elections two months away, Kamal Patel was not only spotted near the state Congress headquarters but was also seen having a heart-to-heart conversation with a local Congress leader

Radheshyam Patel

.

This instantly sent tremors through the state BJP. Kamal Patel has been BJP MLA from Harda for four terms 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008. He was cabinet minister and held important portfolios like revenue and medical education. In 2013, Kamal Patel lost to Congress’

Ram Kishor Dogne

by less than 5,000 votes. He was also sidelined after a youth Durgesh Jat was allegedly shot dead in his constituency and Patel’s son Sudeep was accused of destruction of evidence.

In May 2017, the state BJP also sent a show-cause notice to him after he became vocal against illegal

sand mining activities

in the state. He filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal claiming illegal mining was adversely affecting the ecology of the Narmada river. BJP claimed it was anti-party activity to attack BJP government over an issue as sensitive as illegal sand mining.

So when Kamal Patel was seen near the Congress office, it spread like wild fire that he was switching loyalties. But the commotion was short-lived as he explained, “I went to meet minister for PWD Rampal Singh who live in the lane adjoining the Congress office. When I was returning, I met my relative Radheshyam Patel who is with the Congress party. So we chatted for a while,” he said.

Later, he issued a statement denying all speculations that he was joining the Congress party, met its leaders or visited the PCC headquarters. “This is a conspiracy. I will file defamation suit against those spreading such rumours,” he said. “My life from the very beginning has been attributed to the BJP. Till the day I am alive, I will remain with the BJP. I have always struggled against the Congress since my student days. Not even in a dream will I think of joining Congress,” he claimed.

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