Prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, prominent Congress leaders including former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri, former MP Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi, and ex-MLA Sanjay Shukla switched allegiances to join the BJP on Saturday, creating a jovial atmosphere at the party headquarters in Bhopal. During the indoctrination, Kailash Vijayvargiya, who previously countered Shukla in elections, humorously remarked as he donned him with a BJP scarf, 'I've heard your abuses, and now I am bringing you into the fold.'.
Sanjay Shukla, who campaigned for Congress during the 2023 assembly elections for the Indore-1 seat, made serious allegations against BJP candidate Kailash Vijayvargiya, including harboring land mafia and facing legal issues in West Bengal. The election day itself witnessed a sharp exchange between the two candidates.
Despite the confrontations, Kailash Vijayvargiya emerged victorious over Congress' Sanjay Shukla by a margin of 57,719 votes. After taking up ministry in the state's Mohan government, an event at the headquarters witnessed Vijayvargiya incorporating Shukla into BJP, echoing the earlier phrase.
On hearing this, Sanjay Shukla burst into laughter and touched the feet of senior BJP leader Vijayvargiya, saying 'I am your protege'. Vijayvargiya reciprocated with a pat on the back, blessing Shukla.
Sanjay Shukla hails from a wealthy family in Indore. In his election affidavit as a Congress candidate, he declared assets worth over 200 crores. In 2018, Shukla won the election by defeating BJP's Sudarshan Gupta. It's noteworthy that with Shukla's alliance with BJP, it's considered a homecoming, since his father, Vishnu Prasad Shukla, was a stalwart in the BJP.
