Congress accuses BJP of poaching its MLAs in MP; BJP calls it ‘party’s internal tussle’

Bhopal/New Delhi:The Congress party on Wednesday (March 4, 2020) accused the main opposition party BJP  of poaching its MLAs to topple its government in Madhya Pradesh led by Chief Minister Kamal Nath. After a late night drama, the Congress claimed that the BJP took away eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy to topple the Kamal Nath government.

The Congress government later in the evening appeared to have survived the alleged poaching bid and asserted that there was no threat to its regime. State Minister Jitu Patwari, who was asked to trace and persuade the ‘missing’ MLAS, said that BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh took the eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy to topple the Kamal Nath-led government. 

CM Kamal Nath said that his government, which came to power in December 2018 by ousting the BJP, has an absolute majority and it has proved this in the state Assembly on several occasions. Nath said the BJP "faced defeat every time" and this time also, its plans will prove to be like "Mungerilal's dream", referring to the famous fictional character from a television serial.

Congress leaders including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Digvijaya Singh, also accused the BJP of orchestrating a move to "poach" the legislators of his party in Madhya Pradesh. They, however, asserted that the Congress government in the state was "completely secure and stable".

Digvijaya Singh claimed that a senior BJP leader took a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator to Delhi in a chartered flight, alleging that poaching attempts were being made by the BJP on Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

According to party sources, among the eight MLAs who were taken to Haryana, four are from the Congress, one is an independent and the rest are from BSP and SP.

The BJP denied the charge that it was trying to destabilise the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. Terming the charge as "unfortunate", Madhya Pradesh BJP chief V D Sharma said the allegations were unfortunate.

"The BJP has nothing to do with it. The BJP is making no such effort," Sharma said, when asked about Congress' allegation of attempts to destabilise the state government. Sharma said this is the Congress' "internal tussle" and the answer should come from Chief Minister Kamal Nath and senior party leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh.

The Congress is leveling allegations against the BJP as it is unable to manage its own MLAs, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said. "We have been saying this from the beginning that we are not involved in any such (poaching) activity, but if the Congress government falls on its own, they will be responsible for it," Chouhan told reporters.

In Indore, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya denied his party's role in the alleged horse-trading of MLAs supporting the Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government. He claimed that whatever is happening in the state's politics shows the frustration of the ruling Congress MLAs and their anger towards Kamal Nath.

In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs, followed by the BJP with 107. The simple majority mark is 116. The Congress-led state government has the support of four Independent MLAs, two Bahujan Samaj Party legislators and one of the Samajwadi Party.

Two seats are currently vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator. 

(With Agency Inputs)