In a big move, 10 of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs, who won the State Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan resigned from their Membership of the Parliament on Wednesday.
The development came after a party meeting chaired by BJP chief JP Nadda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
These MPs are Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel, Rakesh Singh, Uday Pratap and Riti Pathak - from Madhya Pradesh; Arun Sao and Gomati Sai - from Chhattisgarh and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, and Kirodi Lal Meena from Rajasthan. Tomar and Patel also resigned from the Union Cabinet. Kirodi Lal Meena is the only Rajya Sabha MP who stepped down.
Two other MPs, Union minister Renuka Singh and Mahant Balaknath, will also be resigning from the Lok Sabha, sources said.
The move is part of the party leadership's process of electing new chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Other MPs who quit included Diya Kumari, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Rakesh Singh.
The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh and wrested Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh from Congress on inflicting a resounding defeat on the grand old party to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland.
The unprecedented victory in the Hindi heartland region also boosted the BJP's prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
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