Madhya Pradesh political crisis deepens ahead of Rajya Sabha polls; Jyotiraditya Scindia, supporting MLAs go 'incommunicado'

New Delhi: Political crisis in Madhya Pradesh further deepened on Monday evening (March 9) as Chief Minister Kamal Nath was engaged in troubleshooting after several lawmakers, including ministers, supporting Jyotiraditya Scindia went 'incommunicado'.

All ministers of the Madhya Pradesh government, however, submitted their resignations expressing faith in Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who accepted these resignations in the emergency cabinet meeting held at his residence, according to sources. The ministers requested Kamal Nath to restructure the Cabinet.

If sources are to be believed, BJP has offered Jyotiraditya Scindia Rajya Sabha seat, besides a cabinet berth in the Modi government. Although Jyotiraditya was present in Delhi, there was no news about his appointment with Congress party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi. 

However, sources told Zee News that 20 MLAs including 6 ministers of the Scindia camp flew to Bengaluru amid intensified factionalism in the ruling party ahead of Rajya Sabha polls.

As his government appeared to be on a sticky wicket, Kamal Nath, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi to discuss the political situation as well as nominees for the Rajya Sabha election, cut short his visit and returned to Bhopal on Monday night, where he went into a huddle with Digvijay Singh and other senior leaders at his residence, before calling a cabinet meeting at around 10 pm.

The rumblings in the Congress had started last week when it had accused the BJP of trying to topple its government after 10 MLAs of the ruling party and those of its allies travelled to Haryana, though the BJP had denied the charge.

Of them, eight had come back and many of them wanted ministerial berths, according to sources. Two Congress MLAs have not yet returned. To add to the woes of the party, Scindia and at least 17 MLAs, believed to be supporting him, suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday, leading to intense speculation.

Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister. 

Sources said several legislators, including a few ministers, arrived in Bengaluru by chartered flights and were staying at an undisclosed location. "It is a fight for the survival of Scindia now. It is a do or die battle for Scindia and his group which is being sidelined," a source close to the scion of erstwhile Gwalior kingdom told PTI. 

Earlier in the day, a section of Congress leaders, mostly of Kamal Nath camp, demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, seen by many as an attempt to thwart Scindia's chance to reach the Upper House.

Nath, who left for Delhi on Sunday night, was supposed to come back to Bhopal on March 12 after celebrating Holi but returned after meeting Sonia Gandhi in the national capital. After the meeting, Nath said any decision on the party's nominees for Rajya Sabha polls would be taken unanimously.

While factionalism has reared its head again in Congress, the BJP too was reportedly having some anxious moments due to a couple of MLAs. The BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs on Tuesday, where sources said Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the legislature party.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya will end on April 9. 

While the Congress has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators. Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.

As per the arithmetic in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the two parties are sure to win one Rajya Sabha seat each, but a tussle is likely for the third seat. Two assembly seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.