Left Cong due to 'feudal mindset' of few leaders: Maihar MLA

Bhopal, Feb 23: Newly-elected BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi on Tuesday, Feb 23 said he left Congress because of the "feudal mindset" of its few leaders while Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's development agenda of Madhya Pradesh impressed him to join the ruling party.

The leader, who was a Samajwadi Party MLA before being associated with Congress, denied that he was a "party hopper" and that he quit Congress to fuel development of his constituency.

"I was impressed with the chief minister's development oriented politics and his humble style of functioning. I joined BJP for the development of my constituency, which remained backward for years because of the feudal mindset of few Congress leaders," Tripathi, who recently won the Maihar bypoll with a record margin of over 28,000 votes, said.

Tripathi had won the Maihar seat in 2013 from a Congress ticket despite a strong BJP wave in the state. He later resigned from Congress to join BJP which necessitated the bypoll. Referring to Congress leaders, he alleged, "...These leaders never wanted people to get education and always thought that if they become literate and aware, then they will question them.

Therefore, these leaders with feudalistic mindset never took interest in the development of rural areas." "But time is changing and people are voting for development by rising above all these things," he added.

He said chief minister's announcement in Maihar yesterday to provide free education to SC students in government colleges, including engineering and medical, will benefit BJP in a major way.

"When these 'bhanje-bhanji' (nephew and niece) of the chief minister will grow up, they will support BJP as they will be inspired by its policies and therefore it will again form the government in 2018," he said.

PTI