As per reports, Indian National Congress (INC) party suffered a major setback ahead of the Chhattisgarh urban body elections as Ashish Mishra, a close aide of Congress state president Deepak Baij, resigned along with 50 supporters and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On Saturday (08 February), Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai and BJP state president Kiran Dev formally inducted Mishra and his supporters into the BJP by presenting them with party scarves.