New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former zila panchayat chairman of Madhya Pradesh’s Ashok Nagar district Yadvendra Singh Yadav joined the Congress with his supporters in Bhopal on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported.


Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president and former chief minister Kamal Nath welcomed Yadav and his supporters into the party in the presence of senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh.


“It is a matter of happiness that Yadav decided to join Congress without any inducement and pressure and to secure the future of Madhya Pradesh,” PTI quoted Nath as saying.


Senior Congress MLAs, including former deputy speaker and MLA Hina Kanvre, MLA Gopal Singh Chauhan, Chandrabhaga Kirade, Vishal Patel, Val Singh Medha and former Narsinghgarh MLA Girish Bhandari were present on the occasion on Wednesday.


Later, Yadvendra Yadav met Digvijaya Singh at his residence with the latter's son and former minister Jaivardhan Singh.


Nath said Yadav’s father Deshraj Yadav was a three-time MLA from Mungaoli seat in Ashok Nagar district.


Notably, Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are likely to be held later this year.


Meanwhile, two days after resigning from the Karnataka legislative council, BJP legislator Baburao Chinchansur joined the Congress earlier in the day.


According to Congress state chief DK Shivakumar, Chinchansur had expressed his desire to join the party on Ugadi, the new year day in Karnataka.


“Today, Baburao Chinchansur who comes from Mallikarjun Kharge's home district has joined the Congress reposing faith in Kharge's leadership. I welcome him to the party," Shivakumar said.


Apart from lauding the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge, Chinchansur also expressed his gratitude to Shivakumar.


"For the favour he has done for me, I will remain indebted to him in my next seven births," Chinchansur said, adding, “I will demonstrate the strength of Baburao Chinchansur to the people of Karnataka in 2023.”


Two weeks back, another BJP legislator Puttanna had resigned from the council and the party to join the Congress.