Former CM Kamal Nath rules out any changes in MP Cong organisation

Former CM Kamal Nath on Wednesday said there was no move by the party leadership to reorganise Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Nath who arrived here in the morning after his two-week tour to Delhi said the party would focus on the upcoming elections to one Lok Sabha and three Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh and hence, there would be no change in the organisation now.

“I met (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi and (senior party leader) Rahul Gandhi during my stay in Delhi. I discussed the political situation in the state with them. There would be no changes in the party in the state. Congress will now focus on the upcoming elections to one Lok Sabha and three Assembly constituencies in MP,” he said.

Mr Nath’s statement assumes significance in the wake of growing speculations in Congress here that he may be divested of one of the two posts he has held.

Mr Nath currently holds the posts of party chief in the state as well as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leadership.

Congress sources said Mr Nath has spurned a proposal by the party high command to shift him to Central politics, saying that he was keen to return the party to power in MP in 2023 Assembly polls to settle political scores with Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who pulled down his 15-month-old government in 2020 by quitting Congress along with 22 party MLAs. They later joined BJP. Sources said he has been able to convince the party high command that he should be allowed to lead the party in the 2023 assembly polls in the state for the purpose.

Mr Nath was under pressure to leave one of the two posts he held after the party faced debacle in the byelections to 28 Assembly constituencies, held last year.