Bhopal, Aug 13 (PTI) Two retired officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and some local leaders and workers of the opposition Congress joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, months ahead of the state assembly elections.
Retired bureaucrats Kavindra Kiyawat and Raghuveer Shrivastava joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state party president V D Sharma in state capital Bhopal, a party spokesman said.
Chhaya More, who had contested as a Congress candidate from Pandhana assembly seat in the last state assembly election, and around 1,200 others, including leaders and workers of the grand old party as well as Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) also joined the party, he said.
Chouhan welcomed them into the party fold.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister alleged that the Congress committed the sin of not improving the condition of the poor during its rule, and also accused the party of not doing anything for the welfare tribals and others.
Assembly polls for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly are due by the end of this year.