Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s brother-in-law Sanjay Singh joins Congress
Mangalore Today News Network
Delhi, Nov 03, 2018 : Sanjay Singh Masani, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s brother-in-law, joined the Congress party in presence of PCC president Kamal Nath, in New Delhi on Saturday (November 3) as to Yahoonews reports.
Masani had been seeking a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Waraseoni, a constituency in the Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. The BJP, however, on Friday, denied Masani the ticket and fielded incumbent MLA Yogendra Nirmal, in its first list.
This comes days after Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s son slapped a defamation suit against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for linking his name with the Panama Papers scandal.
Rahul, at a rally in Madhya Pradesh last week, had said Chouhan’s son’s name had surfaced in the Panama Papers case; it was Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son whose name had cropped up. He later even furnished a clarification on his factually incorrect statement saying he got confused, because there had been so many scams under the BJP.
Meanwhile, Masani does not have a political base as such but had been working in Waraseoni, organising health camps for the elderly and youth. He had earlier openly said that he would contest as an independent in case the BJP does not give him the ticket. On Saturday, he went a step ahead and joined the Congress party.
Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Sanjay Singh Masani, who hails from Gondia in neighbouring Maharashtra, said that Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been chief minister for 13 years and "now it was time that someone else took up the office."
He said he was impressed by the work done by PCC president Kamal Nath in Chhindwara and that’s why he decided to join Congress.
Masani has done cameos in films and television shows.
"In BJP, naamdars are being given tickets, kaamdars are being sidelined. shehzadas are entering the BJP, parivarvaad and vanshvaad against which we fought in the BJP are now thriving in the party," he added.