Deepak Joshi, a former BJP minister, has rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Budhni, marking his return after a year-long tenure with Congress. Joshi, 61, the son of the late Kailash Joshi, a founding member of Jan Sangh and former BJP Chief Minister, had joined Congress in May 2023 due to a fallout with Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Joshi had left the BJP with accusations against Chouhan and the party for allegedly neglecting his late father's legacy. He criticized the BJP for delaying the approval to build a memorial for Kailash Joshi in Hatpipliya, Dewas district, despite his repeated efforts to seek approval for the project.

After joining Congress, Joshi was given a ticket from the Khategaon constituency in the 2023 state assembly elections but lost the contest. Recently, he was excluded from the list of functionaries announced by Madhya Pradesh Congress Chief Jitu Patwari, which led to his decision to return to BJP.

Joshi, who previously served as a three-time BJP MLA from the Bagli and Hatpipliya constituencies, was inducted into Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet in 2013 after winning his third election. His rejoining the BJP comes just days before the assembly by-election in Budhni on November 13, 2024.

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