Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Once a labourer and now a Mayor, Vikram Ahake resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP on Monday.

Ahake took BJP membership in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and party’s state unit president VD Sharma.

This was the second shock that former chief minister Kamal Nath received in the past three days.

Before Ahake’s resignation, legislator from Amarwara Kamlesh Shah defected to the BJP. In 2022, Nath gave a ticket to Ahake for mayoral poll andworked hard to ensure his victory. A member of tribal community, Ahake, was working as a labourer before taking to politics. His mother is an Anganwadi worker.

Nath gave him a ticket for the mayoral poll on the recommendations of his son Nakul Nath who is contesting from Chhindwara constituency on the Congress ticket. Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi appreciated the efforts of Ahake.

Yadav said Nakul Nath had offended the tribal community by insulting Shah, so Ahake also quit the Congress.

It is the old habit of the Congress to hurt the sentiments of the tribal people, Yadav said.

According to sources, Ahake has been in touch with the BJP leaders for some days. Chairman of Chhindwara municipality Pramod Sharma and many others quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

BJP is winning Chhindwara seat: Ahake

Mayor Vikram Ahake has said the BJP is going to win the Chhindwara seat with a record margin. The Congress has always treated the tribal people as votebank, he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies have inspired him to join the BJP.