BJP wanted Nath to go, says Shivraj

THE CENTRAL leadership (of the BJP) decided that the (Kamal Nath) government should fall. Tell me, was it possible to dislodge the government without Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tulsi Bhai?

An audio clip in which Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan can allegedly be heard saying that the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh to fall went viral on Wednesday, triggering a huge political row.

Mr Chouhan is also heard saying in the purported 9.28-minute-long audio clip that it was not possible to pull down the Kamal Nath government without the help of Jyotiraditya Scindia and his loyalist, former Congress MLA Tulsi Silawat.

The Congress seized the opportunity to attack the ruling party and even threatened legal action.

“The audio has established that the BJP’s central leadership had conspired to pull down my government even though it enjoyed a majority,” former CM Kamal Nath said.

MP Congress working president Jitu Patwari said his party may move

SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN, MP CM, in an audio clip

court against the BJP for having plotted to dislodge an elected government following the expose in the purported audio.

Mr Chouhan was reportedly addressing BJP workers when he allegedly said in Hindi, “The central leadership (of the BJP) decided that the (Kamal Nath) government should fall. They (the Kamal Nath government) will ruin and destroy (the state)… Tell me, was it possible to dislodge the government without Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tulsi Bhai? There was no other way.”