NEW DELHI, Dec 25: The Congress suffered a body blow as its five-term Member of Parliament Dilip Singh Bhuria announced that he was quitting the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today and blamed the AICC chief Sitaram Kesri for it fair-and-square.

And, what seemed a rot in the Congress appears to be slipping into a coma of sorts with the exodus to the BJP stepping up.

In what is the first case of a Congress sitting MP joining the Right, the noted tribal leader from MP used harsh words against Kesri in his resignation letter. "You have not cared to visit tribal areas despite several requests and are therefore responsible for the misery of the backwards, tribals, weaker sections and minorities. It appears that the party is not interested in the common men but in those who exploit them".

Further, Bhuria writes: "I have served the Congress as a worker, MLA and MP for 30 long years. I was proud of it but today I am ashamed of what the Congress has become under your leadership. In disgust, and in protest against all this, I hereby resign from the primary membership of the Congress which under your leadership is beyond redemption".

Apart from CWC member Madhav Rao Scindia, Bhuria was the party's strongest leader in MP. While Scindia remained firm in Gwalior, Bhuria won five consecutive times from the tribal constituency of Jhabua. Till some days ago, Congressmen were confident of retaining at least these two seats.

Today, there is a sense of gloom -- said Tariq Anwar, AICC general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, "Bhuria had some local differences with Digvijay Singh but for little issues, such big steps should not be taken. What can we do if our ideology means nothing to them." The defeatist air was quite apparent in the party office-bearers meeting this morning where the discussion merely included the list of observers to be sent to the States for candidate selection.

None of this mattered to Bhuria, who is credited with considerable clout in the vast tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh. Added Anwar: "He wanted his daughter, who is an MLA, to be a minister in the State but that was refused."