Bhopal, Nov 7 (IANS): Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kailash Joshi’s son Deepak Joshi, who had joined Congress last year, rejoined the BJP on Thursday.

He made his 'ghar-vapsi' in the presence of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a public rally in Budhni.

Joshi had resigned from the primary membership of the BJP in May 2023 stating that he was sidelined from the party despite being the son of Jan Sangh leader and former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi.

He had joined Congress six months before the Assembly election last year.

Congress gave him a ticket from the Khategon Assembly seat in Dewas district, however, he lost the election.

He was a three-time MLA from the Bagli and Hatpipaliya Assembly constituencies in Dewas. After his third election victory, Joshi was made a minister in former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet in 2013.

Joshi, a college friend of Chouhan, had contested his fourth election in 2018 but lost to Congress candidate Manoj Chaudhary in Hatpiplya.

Joshi had been vocal against the BJP government in the state and has levelled several allegations against the party.

When in Congress, Joshi had accused the then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of insulting his father and not helping his family at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joshi’s shifting back to the BJP came days after Congress approved a new committee for Madhya Pradesh in which he was not included, forcing him to return to the BJP.

In the last Assembly election, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath had assigned him to corner Shivraj Singh Chouhan in his bastion Budhni. However, one year later, Joshi rejoined the BJP in the presence of Chouhan Budhni.