Congress MLA Nirmala Sapre joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar ahead of third phase of the Lok Sabha polls. The legislator from Bina assembly seat, Sapre joined the saffron fold in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav during a public rally at Rahatgarh in Sagar district.
Bina comes under the Sagar Lok Sabha constituency where election will take place on May 7 in the third phase.
Following her induction into the BJP, Sapre said she joined the stream of development and that she had made several promises to the people of her constituency but was not able to fulfil them.
The Congress is currently out of power, she pointed out and claimed the opposition party does not have any agenda of development.
"I joined the stream of development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav," she said.
Sapre is the third MLA to switch over from the Congress to BJP since the model code of conduct (MCC) came into effect following the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls in March.
The dates for the election to the 18th Lok Sabha were announced on March 16 by the Election Commission of India.
On March 29, MLA from Amarwara in Chhindwara district, Kamlesh Shah quit the Congress and joined the BJP.
A month later on April 30, MLA Ramniwas Rawat also jumped the ship from the grand old party to the BJP.
In the third phase of Lok Sabha polls, elections will be held on eight Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh namely Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, and Rajgarh.