Bhopal,  Expelled media coordinator of Madhya Pradesh Congress, Narender Saluja, on Friday joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Forest Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah at the CM's residence here.

Saluja, who was promoted as state media coordinator in 2018, claimed that he left the Congress because his "conscience did not allow him to work with a person (Kamal Nath) who was actively involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi".

Importantly, whenever the issue of Kamal Nath's alleged involvement in the anti-Sikh riots was raised before Saluja in the past, he had dismissed it as unfounded allegations levelled by the opponents.

Saluja, who used to be considered as one of Kamal Nath's most trusted aides in Madhya Pradesh, was sidelined from the party around three months back during a reshuffle in the media cell of the state Congress. However, he was later inducted as media coordinator.

"I always considered the allegations about Kamal Nath's involvement in the 1984 riots as lies. But Kirtankar Manpreet Kanpuri made me realise that I was wrong. Being a Sikh, it pained me. Therefore, I disassociated myself from the Congress and Kamal Nath," Saluja said while joining the BJP.

Meanwhile, just a short while after Saluja joined the BJP, Madhya Pradesh Congress came out with a letter addressed to him (dated November 13), intimating him about his expulsion from the party for six years for anti-party activities.

State Congress' media wing chairman K.K. Mishra said, "Saluja joining the BJP is not at all surprising, as he was working for the saffron party despite being in the Congress for a long time."