4 MLAS yet to return, unease in Congress over RS prospects
BHOPAL: Four Madhya Pradesh lawmakers owing allegiance to the Congress were yet to return to the state on Thursday evening after travelling to Bangalore — and the purported resignation letter of one of them went viral on social media — as their absence stirred unease in the party over its prospects in the upcoming Raja Sabha elections.
Six MLAS, who the Congress claimed had been poached by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and held captive in a Gurugram hotel, returned to Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday evening. Congress leaders claimed that the remaining four were staying at a hotel in Bengaluru and would return by Thursday evening, but none had done so and remained incommunicado
The four MLAS who were yet to return include Bisahulal Singh, Hardeep Singh Dung and Raghuraj Kansana, all Congress legislators, and Surendra Singh Shera, an independent. The three Congress lawmakers stayed incommunicado on Thursday.
A resignation letter purportedly written by Dung and written to assembly speaker NP Prajapati and chief minister Kamal Nath surfaced on social media, Dung said no development projects had been executed in his constituency like irrigation projects and roads, and alleged corruption in the government.
Nath said:“i cannot comment on the news of his resignation till I speak to him in person.” Prajapati said he will not take cognizance of any letter that isn’t submitted to him in person. “Only when he (Dung) meets me in person will I will take action as per the rules,” he said.
When contacted, independent MLA Shera said he was in Bengaluru for the medical treatment of his daughter and denied that he was part of any plan by the BJP, which the Congress says is trying to destabilise the government of chief minister Kamal Nath .
“I came to Bengaluru with my family as I have to consult some doctors for treatment of my daughter. I will be returning after a couple of days. I am with the Kamal Nath government right from day one. However, ministers don’t listen to me and Chief Minister Kamal Nath didn’t make me a minister despite his assurances,” he said.
The absence of the four legislators has worried the Congress because of the prospect of crossvoting in the Rajya Sabha polls, with three seats in the Upper House up for grabs from Madhya Pradesh. The elections are due on March 26. The three seats that fall vacant on April 2 include those of senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh and Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatia of the BJP.
“What causes worry to our party at this juncture is not the absence of the MLAS but the party’s prospects during elections to Rajya Sabha’s three seats,” a senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity. “If the BJP manages to engineer cross-voting, the Congress will not lose a seat but the state government will face the stigma of being in a minority.”