Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath. (File photo)
Amid claims and counterclaims, the Congress has alleged that there was a serious bid to destabilise the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. The ruling party alleged that a few Congress legislators were forcibly kept in a hotel in Gurugram in the intervening night between Tuesday and Wednesday.
MP ministers Jeetu Patwari and Jaivardhan Singh had rushed to Delhi to woo the Congress legislators. In the wee hours of Wednesday, Congress claimed most of the eight legislators who were planning to switch loyalty to the Opposition BJP have returned to the Congress fold. Suspended BSP MLA Rambai was seen going with Congress leaders outside the hotel.
State BJP president V D Sharma, however, distanced the party from any such development.
The development comes two days after senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had alleged that the BJP was trying to lure Congress legislators by offering them anything between Rs 25 crore and Rs 35 crore in three installments. He backed his allegation by claiming that former BJP minister Bhupendra Singh had taken suspended Rambai to Delhi in a chartered flight. Kamal Nath had then said that Singh was “telling the truth” but expressed confidence in the stability of his government.
On Wednesday, Digvijaya Singh said that the Congress government was safe. He claimed the BJP had kept two chartered aircraft ready to fly MLAs to Bangalore. Only four MLAs, including one Independent, went to Bangalore but the second aircraft returned to Bhopal with senior leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan because no MLA was left, Singh claimed.
In the 230-member assembly, Congress has 114 MLAs while the BJP has 107 members. Seven non-BJP members, including four Independents and two BSP MLAs, support the Congress government. The Congress has challenged the BJP to hold a floor test.
Chief Minister Nath was preparing to leave for Delhi but chose to stay back. Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said four Congress legislators could still be with the BJP leaders but they would eventually come back like the four others.
Meanwhile, two BJP legislators Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kol did not attend a party meeting held on Tuesday. While the BJP had boycotted the proceedings, the two legislators had voted along with the Congress on a bill in the July session. BJP did not act against the two legislators claiming that no whip had been issued.