Raipur, Aug. 25: A tainted former BJP MP will “trudge” the party down the victory road for the ensuing state polls in Chhattisgarh.

Pradeep Gandhi, who was caught-on-camera accepting bribe for asking question in the Lok Sabha in 2005, was given the onus of manning BJP’s state election control room for the coming Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh.

Gandhi, a close confidante of Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, was expelled from the Parliament, and the party, following a sting operation that caught 11 MPs on camera accepting money for raising questions in the House.

He was then a Lok Sabha MP from the state’s Rajnandgaon constituency, which Singh earlier represented.

As the in-charge of the state election control room for the party, Gandhi will handle all the election-related issues in the party affairs, BJP’s official sources said.

However, the development has come as a big surprise for a section of senior BJP leaders.

Sources said that before the ticket distribution, the chief minister had won the first round of battle within the party by rehabilitating his close confidante, as the head of the control room. After the sting operation, Singh had distanced Gandhi from his inner coterie — but has finally ensured a best deal for him.

Interestingly, Gandhi has been entrusted the “big job” without even revoking his suspension from the party. He will sit in the BJP state office where the control room has been set up.

The BJP’s central committee had suspended Gandhi and five other party MPs who were also caught-on-camera after the then BJP President and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani described the sting expose as a matter of grave concern.

“Revoking suspension is not an issue. Gandhi will look after the election works as party required skilled persons to handle the affairs,” BJP state organising secretary Rampratap Singh told The Telegraph.

Such experiment had been practicised even in Himachal Pradesh during state elections, Singh explained.