Assembly Elections 2018: Big blow to Rahul Gandhi! Congress' Senior leader joins BJP in poll-bound Chhattisgarh

In a big blow to Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi, senior party leader from poll-bound Chhattisgarh has bid goodbye and joined BJP on Saturday. Ram Dayal Uike, the state executive president, joined the BJP in presence of party chief Amit Shah and Chief Minister Raman Singh, in Bilaspur.

We met a few days ago but Ram Dayal Uike did not say any thing," Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Bhaghel told media. He also said that politicians switching parties in the election season is not uncommon.

Ram Dayal Uike is a four-time lawmaker from Pali in Chhattisgarh. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday has finalised the candidates for Chhattisgarh of upcoming assembly polls. Sources in the party said the names will be announced in a day or two. The party has been unable to stitch an alliance with the regional parties for the Assembly elections.

However, last month also Congress has suffered a shock when state party chief was caught in a sex CD controversy and was sent to jail.

The polling for Chhattisgarh assembly has been divided into two-phase, 18 of the 90 assembly constituencies will vote on November 12, including the Maoist-affected Bastar and Rajnandgaon districts. The second phase of polling is on November 20.

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