Senior Madhya Pradesh BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Pratap Singh resigned from the party’s primary membership on March 16, accusing the BJP of being involved in corruption and protecting the corrupt.
Speaking to reporters in Sidhi, Mr. Singh raised concerns about the BJP’s candidate selection process for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Claiming that there was a “difference between the BJP’s words and deeds”, he said, “I do not find today’s BJP suitable for me.”
He sent his resignation to BJP national president J.P. Nadda and shared it on his X account. “I am resigning from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” he wrote.
RS tenure about to end
Mr. Singh, whose Rajya Sabha tenure is about to come to an end on April 2, had been eyeing the party’s ticket for the Lok Sabha election from the Sidhi constituency. The BJP, however, has fielded Rajesh Mishra from the seat. Riti Pathak, who had won the seat in 2019, had resigned as an MP after she became an MLA in the November 2023 election to the State Assembly.
Mr. Singh did not, however, disclose if he planned to contest the elections as an independent candidate or join any other political party. The Congress has also announced its candidate from the Sidhi seat: former State Minister Kamleshwar Patel.
‘Large-scale corruption’
Mr. Singh also accused the BJP of indulging in large-scale corruption, and claimed that corrupt people were getting protection within the party.
“I felt several things in the party during this period [during the BJP’s time in power]. I couldn’t say them when I was in the party, but I can say those things now. Corruption is prevailing in the party on a large scale. Corrupt people are getting protection. Politics has become a medium of business... Rather, we can say that the party has become an adda (hotspot) of political traders,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha member, who holds influence in the Sidhi and Rewa Lok Sabha constituencies, also said that he was not against any individual candidate fielded by the BJP, but objected to its system of picking candidates. “And since my attitude is a bit rebellious, I am unable to accept this situation. Hence, my objection and disagreement has reflected as my resignation,” he added.
‘Should have thought’
Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, who is also the MLA from Rewa and another influential leader from the Vindhya region, said that Mr. Singh was a senior leader and “should have thought before taking such a decision”.
The MLA, Ms. Pathak, said that she and the BJP regretted Mr. Singh’s decision to leave the party. “I don’t know under what circumstances he took this decision but it was not on par with a dedicated BJP worker. He must be 55 to 56 years old and at this age, the BJP has given him a lot, from positions in the party organisation to Rajya Sabha membership. He cannot even imagine the respect he got because of the BJP,” Ms. Pathak said.
Mr. Singh was elected to the Upper House of the Parliament in March 2018, but the BJP did not renominate him this time. Earlier, he had also held various positions in the State unit of the BJP, including general secretary and vice-president. He had also served as the chairman of the Vindhya Development Authority in the rank of a State Cabinet Minister.
While various senior Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh have quit the party over the past two months, with many of them joining the BJP, this is the first such departure from the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
