Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath rushed back to here Monday evening after cutting short his visit to Delhi in the wake of senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and a group of MLAs suddenly going ‘incommunicado’, causing ripples in state political circles. Sources said that Scindia had flown them to Bangalore.
Immediately after landing here, Nath went into a huddle with veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh and other senior ministerial colleagues at his residence, sources said.
In a curious political development amid reports of infighting in the state Congress and allegations of poaching, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became ‘incommunicado’ by switching off their mobile phones, triggering speculations.
While calls made to Scindia by this agency remained unanswered, mobile phones of at least six ministers who are supporters of the Guna royal are switched off. Among them are Health Minister Tulsi Silavat, Labour Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Transport Minister Govind Singh Rajput, Women and Child Development Minister Imarti Devi, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and School Education Minister Dr Prabhura Choudhary.
Nath had left Sunday night for Delhi night to meet top Congress leaders to discuss the current political situation in Madhya Pradesh and nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled March 26.
The political drama in the state began last week when 10 Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh went ‘missing’. The party pointed fingers at the BJP, which denied any role in it. Since then, eight of the ‘missing’ legislators have returned and expressed their support to the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh.
Of the two Congress MLAs who are believed to be camping in Bangalore at present, Raghuraj Kansana belongs to the Scindia camp. Another ‘missing’ MLA is Hardeep Singh Dang.
Meanwhile, a supporter of Scindia demanded that the former Union Minister be nominated as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.
“The party should also make Scindia the president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress unit. We are being sidelined in the party in Madhya Pradesh,” he said. He claimed that the Scindia camp has more than 12 MLAs including ministers.
PTI