Bhopal, Aug 2 (PTI): Hours ahead of the Datia assembly bypoll result, the Congress suspended former MLA Rajendra Bharti from the party’s primary membership on Sunday night, according to an official statement.
Bharti, who was disqualified from the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in April following his conviction in a cheating case, told reporters that this action did not affect him and that he would show his strength in the next assembly elections.
The statement issued by the Congress late Sunday night said that Bharti had been suspended from the party’s primary membership.
Bharti, who represented the Datia seat in the assembly before his disqualification, said the action taken against him was wrong and that the public would respond to this in the 2028 Madhya Pradesh assembly polls.
He alleged that this entire incident was a “conspiracy” by senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra and that Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh had contested the elections in collusion with him.
The former MLA said his struggle has always been against Mishra and it will continue.
Voting for the Datia bypoll was held on July 30, with 71.44 per cent of voters casting their ballots. The results will be declared on Monday.
The bypoll was necessitated due to Bharti’s disqualification from the assembly.
Bharti had defeated Mishra by over 7,700 votes in the 2023 assembly elections.
A Delhi court sentenced Bharti to three years of imprisonment in the cheating case in April, leading to the termination of his assembly membership.
The Congress fielded Singh from the seat, with 19 other candidates, including BJP’s Ashutosh Tiwari, in the fray. PTI MAS DIV DIV
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