Congress to dispatch more firefighters to Bengaluru
MADHYA PRADESH Cong maintains its MLAS misled, many want to return to party
BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh (MP) government will send more ministers to Bengaluru on Thursday to persuade the 19 Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAS), said to be loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, to return to the party fold, a day after the party high command entrusted the job of wooing back the legislators to newly appointed Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar, the party leaders said. Three more MLAS have also resigned but aren’t in Bengaluru.
Two ministers in Kamal Nath cabinet, Sajjan Singh Verma and Gobind Singh, claimed to have held talks with the MLAS in Bengaluru with the help of Shivakumar. “The MLAS told us that they have been misled and have said that they would remain with the Congress,” Verma said, after returning to Bhopal in the evening.
Their claim was quickly rebutted through a video message by women and child development minister Imrati Devi, who reaffirmed her loyalty to Scindia, who joined the BJP on Wednesday, and said she will always stand alongside him “even if I had to jump into a well”.
Devi said she and other rebel Congress MLAS are camping in Bengaluru out of their own volition and with the blessings of Scindia and there was no possibility of returning to the Congress. Another minister and Scindia loyalist, Tulsi Silavat, also released a similar video statement on behalf of all rebel MLAS.
The Congress leaders, on condition of anonymity, in Bhopal, said a decision was taken to send more ministers to Bengaluru after Verma and Singh raised the possibility of at-least 10 legislators being willing to returning to the party.
Congress leader and former MP CM, Digvijaya Singh, said 13 of the 22 party MLAS were not willing to quit the party despite Scindia joining the BJP. “They don’t want a re-election,” he said.
A Congress leader, who was not willing to be named, said the 10 first time MLAS in the group of 22 and some other legislators can return to the party fold .
“We know well that most of MLAS would not jeopardise their political career, particularly the first-timers in the state assembly, by joining the BJP. Also, they will not like to face election again within 14 months of winning one,” the leader said.
A second Congress leader, who too was not willing to be named, said the BJP’S plan to take 19 MLAS to Bengaluru is proving to be a bit difficult to deal with as getting access to them is a problem. He added that Nath was sending other ministers, close to the MLAS, to woo them back.
A third Congress leader privy to the discussions in the party said there was unanimity that speaker NP Prajapati, who is originally from the Congress, should not take any action on the resignation of 22 legislators and insist on the legislators returning to Bhopal.
“Buying time would frustrate the legislators and they would come back to the party,” the leader said.
He said there was no possibility of the six ministers, who are in Bengaluru, ditching Jyotiraditya Scindia and come back to the Congress. That is the reason Nath had requested Governor Lalji Tandon to remove them from the Cabinet on Monday, he said.
Meanwhile, senior MP BJP leaders including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Narottam Mishra held discussions on the same issue and decided to send some senior party functionaries to Bengaluru to prevent the Congress ministers from meeting the legislators. Already, three party leaders are in the city, BJP leaders said.
The BJP had also made elaborate arrangements for welcoming Jyotiraditya Scindia in Bhopal on Thursday. Scindia will file his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha election on Friday, according to state BJP media in charge Lokendra Parashar.
In Bengaluru, Shivakumar, said, “All the Madhya Pradesh MLAS who are here do not want to lose their membership. I am sure they will understand and will save the government.”
A Karnataka BJP leader said unlike last time Shivakumar will get no access to the MLAS. “We are guarding them and additional police force has also been deployed on request of the MLAS from MP,” he said.
Political analyst Girija Shankar said, “What the Congress leaders are doing today to change the situation in their favour they should have done it months back.”