BJP’s Babulal Gaur denies he cozied up to Congress

Veteran BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Babulal Gaur on Tuesday denied that he was cozying up to the Congress in the wake of Monday’s incident in which he was seen holding the flag of the Opposition party at a function here.

Mr Gaur, who reportedly turned rebel after being dropped from the Shivraj Singh Chouhan ministry in July on the grounds of age, came out with a clarification on Monday’s incident, saying, “I unwittingly held the Congress flag at the rally and handed it over to another person immediately after I realised my faux pas”.

“One should not read much into the incident. I want to make it clear that I owe whatever I have achieved in my life to the party. I held many posts including that of chief minister in my political career only because of BJP. My political life began in BJP and will end in BJP too,” Mr Gaur said in a statement issued here.

Earlier, Congress MLA Arif Aqeel, who organised the “Paigam a Mohabat” rally in which Mr Gaur, along with many Congress leaders including former Congress Legislature Party leader Ajey Singh attended, said it was an apolitical annual event, held on every Independence Day.

He, however, said Mr Gaur was welcome to join Congress if the latter so desired.