Stung by Karnataka, Goa, Congress rushes Scindia to Madhya Pradesh to avert any crisis

According to senior party leaders, Jyotiraditya Scindia arrived in Bhopal on Thursday afternoon and held discussions with Chief Minister Kamal Nath over lunch at his residence.

BHOPAL: In view of the recent developments in Karnataka and Goa where its MLAs have rebelled or switched to the BJP, the Congress has rushed General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia to Madhya Pradesh to stem any such crisis in the state.

According to senior party leaders, Scindia arrived in Bhopal on Thursday afternoon and held discussions with Chief Minister Kamal Nath over lunch at his residence.

He also visited the state Assembly and interacted with people at the Coffee House. In the evening, Scindia participated in the dinner at the residence of his key supporter and state Cabinet Minister Tulsiram Silawat, where most of the state ministers and legislators of both the party and its allies were present.

A senior Congress leader requesting anonymity said that the BJP had contacted at least 10-15 Congress MLAs in the state in the last one month to seek they switch over to it. 

The party leader said that these talks were, however, in the initial stage as nothing has been promised to the Congress legislators. 

According to political observers, the Congress is seeking to project the message that it is united and impress on the legislators that there are no differences between its top leaders in the state.

A common grouse of Scindia loyalists among the ministers and legislators is that the officials do not listen to them. Scindia did not agree with their perception, but stressed that there should be coordination among all, since team spirit was important.

State Minister Sajjan Singh Verma, however, commented that nothing much should be read into Scindia`s visit and engagements, as top leaders keep visiting the state and when they come, gatherings of party lawmakers are organised. He ruled out anything like Karnataka or Goa happening in the state. 

The Congress enjoys a precarious majority in the state. Though it emerged as the single largest party in the 230-member house after the last year`s Assembly elections with 114 seats, it failed to cross the halfway mark on its own and enlisted support of the BSP and the SP which have won two seats and one seat each.

Four Independent MLAs, who are Congress rebels, have also extended their support, taking the total number of MLAs on the Congress side to 121. 

The BJP had finished second by winning 108 seats.

The strategic move of the Congress comes at a time when the party`s 13 month-old coalition government with the Janata Dal-Secular is facing a crisis following the resignation of over 13 MLAs.

On Wednesday, even 10 out of 15 party MLAs in Goa switched their alliance to the ruling BJP in the state. A senior party leader said that on Tuesday night, a Congress MLA from Goa before arriving in the national capital to join the BJP informed the party leader about his decision and requested him not to stop him.

The leader said that the message of 10 MLAs switching their sides was immediately passed on to the senior leadership. Congress sources said that the BJP, which is looking for exapansion in Odisha, is eyeing the Congress leaders in the state.