Congress flies away remaining 88 MLAs to Jaipur, rebels stay put in K’taka
Amid a political crisis triggered by former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia’s exit from the party, the Congress on Wednesday afternoon flew its remaining 88 MLAs from Bhopal to Jaipur in order to prevent poaching by the BJP.
The MLAs, who were received by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the airport, are likely to stay at the Buena Vista Resort in Jaipur. Two MLAs of the BSP, one from SP and independent accompanied the Congress legislators.
The BJP MLAs are staying put in ITC Grand Bharat in Manesar in Haryana.
Around 20 rebel Congress MLAs have been lodged in a resort in Bengaluru. They have claimed to have resigned from the legislative Assembly. The Congress has sent two of its leaders, Sajjan Singh Verma and Govind Singh, to Bengaluru in order to pacify some of the rebel MLAs and bring them back to the party.
The grand old party has been witnessing an internal turf war in Madhya Pradesh since the party formed the Government in the State in 2018. The crisis deepened on Tuesday after Scindia resigned from the party and at least 22 MLAs close to him announced to withdraw support to the Nath Government.
In 2018 Assembly results, the Congress, which won 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly formed the Government with the support of four Independent MLAs and two BSP MLAs and a legislator from the Samajwadi Party (SP). The BJP had secured 109 seats in the State Assembly.
While there are clear indication that the Nath Government would not survive for want of the required number of MLAs, Congress leader Verma on Wednesday said they (leaders who are in Bengaluru) are neither willing to support Scindia nor in favour of joining the BJP as they were misled and taken to Bengaluru in Karnataka.
“Nobody is ready to go with Scindia. They said they were misled and taken to Bengaluru, most of them said they are not ready to join BJP,” Verma claimed.
“I just came from Bengaluru and now I am going to Jaipur. Besides 5-6 Ministers and one MLA, we all are going to Jaipur. They (MLAs) have said they have the blood of Congress and they will remain in the party. Since Scindia was a senior party leader, all our MLAs followed his order as a courtesy,” he said.
He also claimed that he is in contact with 7-8 BJP MLAs.
Senior party leader Digvijaya Singh claimed on Wednesday that thirteen of the 22 rebel Congress MLAs don’t want to quit the party and were led away only to create pressure on the leadership to nominate Scindia to the Rajya Sabha. He also asserted that the Nath-led Government in the State, pushed to the brink of collapse with the resignation of 22 MLAs, will win a floor test.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bala Bachchan said the Nath Government will prove the majority in Assembly and complete its five-year term. “The Congress is in a safe and strong position. Everybody is in touch with the Chief Minister, everything will be alright soon. We will prove majority on the floor of the Assembly and our Government will continue till 2023,” said Bachchan while speaking to reporters here.
Besides, Congress MLA Umang Singhar said the resignations of MLAs who are in Bengaluru have not been accepted yet. “All MLAs are in touch with us; their resignations have not yet been accepted,” he said.
However, Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Development Minister and rebel Congress MLA Imarti Devi on Wednesday reaffirmed her loyalty to Scindia and said she will always stand alongside him “even if I had to jump into a well”. The Minister said she and 21 other rebel Congress MLAs are camping in Bengaluru out of their own volition and with the blessings of Scindia. Imarti welcomed the former Congress leader’s decision to join the BJP.
After Scindia quit the Congress, around 10,000 of its office-bearers have resigned from the party in Madhya Pradesh and several more are likely to do so, a former leader of the grand old party claimed on Wednesday. The ruling Congress, however, refuted this claim and said the supporters of Scindia were creating pressure on other leaders to leave the party.
“About 10,000 office-bearers of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh- from state-level to block-level, including some district presidents, have resigned from the Congress since Tuesday morning owing their allegiance to Scindia ji,” former state Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi, who also quit the party along with Scindia, told PTI on Wednesday.
The district presidents of Guna, Sagar, Ashok Nagar, Gwalior, Indore, Shivpuri and some other districts have resigned from the party, Chaturvedi, a staunch Scindia supporter, said.