With Kamal Nath govt on edge, Congress, BJP step up efforts to guard flock

While the BJP MLAs arrived at a luxury hotel in Gurugram the early hours of Wednesday, the Congress will likely move its MLAs from Bhopal to Jaipur later in the day.

The Congress and the BJP moved in to guard their legislators as the tussle for power in Madhya Pradesh is now down to numbers, with 22 Congress MLAs, including six ministers, tendering their resignations.

Madhya Pradesh crisis: BJP legislators after boarding buses parked outside the party office in Bhopal. (ANI Photo)

Chief minister Kamal Nath’s government in Madhya Pradesh was plunged into crisis following senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia announcing his resignation from Congress, minutes after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. Home minister and former BJP chief Amit Shah accompanied Scindia to PM’s residence. There has been no official word on what was discussed in the meeting.

While the Congress legislature party passed a resolution supporting Nath on Tuesday evening, BJP legislators were flown from Bhopal to Delhi. Most of the Congress legislators who resigned have been incommunicado since Monday night and are in Bengaluru.

According to news agency ANI, the BJP MLAs arrived at a luxury hotel in Gurugram in the early hours of Wednesday, while the Congress will likely move its MLAs from Bhopal to Jaipur later in the day.

Meanwhile, Congress has sent two of its leaders-- Sajjan Singh Verma and Govind Singh--- to Bengaluru in order to pacify some of the rebel MLAs, who are staying in Bengaluru.

Congress leaders said that the party MLAs will be leaving for Jaipur from Bhopal on Wednesday morning.

“We are going to take our 92 MLAs and those supporting our Madhya Pradesh government to a hotel,” a senior Congress leader was quoted as saying by PTI on Wednesday.

Apart from its own MLAs, the Congress is also keeping a close watch on four Independents who are supporting the Congress government in the state.

Putting up a brave face, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said, “There is nothing to worry about, we will prove our majority. Our government will complete its term.”

If the resignations are accepted by the Speaker, the effective strength of the Assembly will come down to 209, giving the BJP, with 107 MLAs, a slender majority of two. At present, the effective strength of the MP Assembly is 228, with two seats lying vacant, and the Congress has 114 MLAs, including the 22 who have resigned. The remaining seven are from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has two MLAs; one from the Samajwadi Party (SP); and four independent legislators. These seven support the Nath-led government.