BHOPAL: An Independent MLA who allegedly called a senior BJP woman leader ‘Vishkanya’ (poison girl) was welcomed into the ruling party in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
Dinesh Rai ‘Munmun,’ the independent legislator from Seoni, joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders, including state party chief Rakesh Singh and mining baron-turned-MP minister Sanjay Pathak, at a hurriedly convened press event at 11.30 pm on Thursday.
Incidentally, Congress state president Kamal Nath had told journalists that several disgruntled BJP leaders were in touch with him. According to BJP insiders, the induction was like turning the tables on Kamal Nath as Munmun is believed to have ties with Nath and another Congress leader Vivek Tankha.
The Congress was quick to question the BJP’s haste to induct Munmun into its ranks. “Why was the ruling party in such a hurry to include in its ranks an Independent legislator who has not once, but twice insulted a senior BJP woman leader? … Shivraj Singh
Chouhan alone can explain why his party inducted a man who disrespected their woman leader in the past,” said Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi.
In August 2017, BJP leader Neeta Pateriya filed a police complaint against Munmun for his derogatory ‘Vishkanya’ remarks. Prior to this, Munmun was caught on camera wiping his hands off Pateriya’s saree in September 2014.