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Congress will again form govt in MP after by-polls: Kamal Nath
Kamal Nath said the voters will punish the Congress rebels in the by-polls.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath claimed on Sunday that the Congress party would again form the government in the state after the by-polls to 24 state assembly seats are held.
Kamal Nath, whose government lost the majority in the state assembly after a rebellion by 22 party MLAs, said, “The voters are wise enough to understand the BJP’s designs. The voters of the 22 constituencies, from where Congress MLAs resigned in March, know well that their representatives betrayed them and their party. The BJP will face anti-incumbency in the by-polls whereas, the Congress enjoys the trust of people.” The rebellion had compelled Nath to tender his resignation from the chief minister’s post on March 20.
In reply to a question he said the rebellion was unexpected.
“Neither myself nor Digvijaya Singh ever believed that 22 of the Congress MLAs would be lured to betray the party and part ways with it,” he said.
He also played down the allegations levelled by the rebels that he didn’t listen to them and ignored development work in their constituencies.
“I have got a complete list of works recommended by the MLAs and done by the then government. But I don’t want to go into it. I am confident that our party is going to win the by-polls convincingly,” Nath said.
On allegations that senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh used to run his government from behind the curtains, Kamal Nath said, “I never outsourced the government. I ran my government. It’s wrong to say that the MLAs were upset. I used to have meetings with ministers and officers to take decisions on public welfare schemes. At the same time, I used to meet MLAs too.”
He also responded to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s allegations that the then Congress government did nothing to contain the coronavirus spread in the state and said his government undertook adequate measures including testing for the disease. Nath said it was under the BJP government that the coronavirus situation worsened in the state.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the previous Congress government had created a “chaotic” situation in the state. “The real heroes and true leaders are those who helped in uprooting a corrupt government. Jyotiraditya Scindia is such a leader for whom the interest of the state is supreme. That’s why he parted ways with the corrupt government, along with his friends,” he added.
Chouhan said he also held the Congress rebels in high regard since they decided to put their political careers at stake to dislodge a “self-centred” government.
“Those who worship a particular family and don’t think of the public interest can’t run their government for long even if they are able to get power by mistake,” Chouhan said.
The Congress formed the government in the state on December 17, 2018, after securing 114 seats in the 230-member state assembly in the November elections. The government was also supported by 7 MLAs including 4 independent, two BSP and one SP MLAs.
The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19
After the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs in March, the Congress is left with 92 MLAs, while the BJP has 107. Other two seats fell vacant after two MLAs--one each from the Congress and the BJP-- died. The present strength of the state assembly is 206 and the reduced majority mark is at 104.
