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Turmoil returns in Madhya Pradesh as Congress can’t trace 15-20 MLAs
Chief minister Nath blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for trying to destabilise the government.
The crisis for the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh intensified with 15 to 20 Congress MLAs, including some ministers, remaining incommunicado on Monday, leading to a series of meetings between Nath and senior leaders in Bhopal.
Late on Monday, at least 17 ministers “tendered their resignation to the CM”, said information public relations minister PC Sharma, who was one of those who resigned, suggesting a reshuffle in the state cabinet to keep the flock together.
While some reports said that the missing lawmakers left for Bengaluru on Monday afternoon in chartered flights, chief minister Nath blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for trying to destabilise the government and said the legislators would be back soon, as jockeying among senior Congress leaders intensified before the crucial Rajya Sabha polls on March 26.
Of the three Upper House seats, the Congress and the BJP are sure to win one each. However, there will be a contest for the third seat as Congress is two members short of the number to get its second candidate elected. The BJP, on the other hand, will need the support of nine lawmakers to win the contest. It is unclear who the Congress will name as its Upper House candidates from the state.
In the assembly with effective strength of 228, the Congress has 114 MLAs, the BJP 107 and there are seven others — two from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), one from the Samajwadi Party (SP), and four independents. The seven others all support the Nath government, giving it a slender majority of six; one independent lawmaker, Pradeep Jaiswal, is a minister in his cabinet.
A senior Congress leader, who was not willing to be named, said on Monday: “We got information about 11 MLAs and six ministers reaching Bengaluru today. Later, we came to know that two more MLAs were reaching there. The party leaders are trying to contact them. The party president Sonia Gandhi has been briefed about the development by chief minister Kamal Nath.”
The Congress leader said the ministers, who could not be traced and whose mobile phones were found to be switched off, include Tulsi Silavat, Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Prabhuram Chaudhary, Mahendra Sisodia and Govind Rajput. Another minister, Imarti Devi, did not respond to the phone calls. There are 28 ministers in Nath’s cabinet.
On Monday evening, Nath, who rushed back from Delhi after discussing the political situation in the state ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections with the party high command, convened a meeting of his ministers and MLAs in Bhopal. Rajya Sabha members Digvijaya Singh and Vivek Tankha, and other senior Congress leaders attended the meeting. Later in the night, Nath held a cabinet meeting at his home.
I” will not allow the forces to succeed in their design, which are trying to destabilise the government with support of mafia. For me government is the means to serve people. I am not in government for any lust of power. For 15 years, BJP treated power as the means to satisfy its lust of power and now it is trying to destabilise the government in an unethical manner,” Nath said in a statement on Monday night.
Exactly a week ago, at least 10 MLAs — six from the Congress, two BSP MLAs, the lone SP MLA, and one independent — left for Delhi even as the Congress accused the BJP of trying to poach its lawmakers. While six of them were brought back to Bhopal from Delhi by Digvijaya Singh last Thursday, four went to Bengaluru. Only two lawmakers from Bengaluru had returned till Monday and were incommunicado.
State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said: “Due to the treatment of senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and constant interference by senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, the Congress was bound to see the situation it is witnessing today. Now, the Congress government is facing its biggest crisis and may not be able to overcome it. The BJP has nothing to do with the turmoil.”
Neither Scindia nor Singh were available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact them.
As political uncertainty looms in the state, the opposition BJP has called its legislature party meeting on Tuesday evening in Bhopal to shows its strength and to decide on introducing a no-confidence motion against the Nath government when the budget session begins on March 16.
Former chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan met the party’s national president JP Nadda in New Delhi, where party leaders said the political situation in the state was discussed. Later, Nadda, Chouhan and rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar met home minister Amit Shah.
State BJP president, VD Sharma, said: “Squabbling of Congress has surfaced in public. Instead of blaming BJP for everything the Congress leaders should set their house in order.”
The MP Congress president’s media coordinator, Narendra Saluja, said there was no rift in the Congress and no threat to the government. “The government is enjoying majority and it will complete its full term. It’s BJP which has launched propaganda against the Congress and is spreading rumours. All the MLAs are in touch with the party president and chief minister Kamal Nath.”
In Bhopal, Congress leaders said the crisis has deepened further as the high command is yet to name a new state unit chief in Madhya Pradesh after Nath became the chief minister in December 2018. He has been holding the post of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief since April 2018. Those demanding Nath’s replacement have cited the example of neighbouring Chhattisgarh, where Bhupesh Baghel was removed from the post of the state unit president soon after he became the chief minister. The party named tribal leader Mohan Markam as the new Chhattisgarh Congress chief last year.
