Bhopal, Sept. 29: Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Manik Singh has defected to the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections, dealing a blow to the party and the prestige of Union minister Arjun Singh.

Manik had won the Lok Sabha bypoll last year from Sidhi in Vindhyachal, prompting Arjun and his politician son Ajay to project the region as a “Congress citadel”.

After Manik wrested Sidhi from the BJP in March 2007, Ajay had touted it as a victory of his father’s legacy instead of the party’s. The Arjun camp had missed no opportunity in asserting that Sidhi was won without any assistance from the state Congress.

Ajay had been so preoccupied with Sidhi that he skipped the wedding of his nephew Aishwarya Singh and Devyani Rana, a cousin of Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Now that Manik has defected, Ajay is busy projecting him as a persona non grata.

Ajay, currently in Delhi to lobby for a large chunk of tickets for his supporters in Sidhi, Satna, Rewa and Shahdol, is said to have told senior AICC functionaries that Manik had little following in the state and his byelection victory was actually a triumph of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress and Arjun.

In Bhopal, Arjun’s spokesperson J.P. Dhanopia sought a “judicial inquiry” into Manik’s defection, alleging that the BJP might have used some “unethical allurements”.

Manik rejected the charge, saying he was disappointed with the Congress for “ignoring” and “sidelining” tribals in the state.

Manik had switched over to the Congress from the BJP in 2002. The next year, he was given a Congress ticket from the Sidhi Assembly constituency and lost badly.

Sidhi, earlier reserved for tribal candidates, has been converted into a “general seat” following delimitation. The change will come into effect from the next round of Lok Sabha polls.

“Since Sidhi has become a general seat, Manik perhaps felt he would not get a nomination. He has a past record of switching sides, therefore we are not surprised at his lack of ideological commitment,” Dhanopia said.

Manik’s move is nevertheless a setback for Arjun and Ajay. The father and son were hoping to have a say in ticket distribution in the Vindhyachal region.

It is also an open secret that Ajay, currently head of the Congress’s election campaign committee in Madhya Pradesh, hopes to become chief minister if the party wins the November polls.

Manik’s defection has cast a shadow on his plans.