Kamal Nath alleged that the BJP was adopting immoral ways to “destabilise my government†and vowed not to let it happen. (Photo Credit: PTI/File)
New Delhi:
The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh plunged into a crisis on Monday as a sulking Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 17 MLAs, virtually revolted prompting Chief Minister Kamal Nath to call a late-night cabinet meeting where around 20 ministers resigned reposing faith in his leadership. Nath alleged that the BJP was adopting immoral ways to “destabilise my government” and vowed not to let it happen. Nath, who had met party president Sonia Gandhi earlier in the day, had cut short his Delhi visit and rushed to Bhopal where he called the urgent cabinet meeting at around 10 pm after a faction led by senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who, along with at least 17 legislators, went incommunicado, sparking intense speculation about the fate of his government.
#MadhyaPradesh: Buses carrying Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs reach Bhopal Airport. https://t.co/6wPszkY7Kx pic.twitter.com/aXumIMQMNG
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath: There is nothing to worry about, we will prove our majority. Our government will complete its term. pic.twitter.com/X2HpYd7F08
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
#WATCH Madhya Pradesh: BJP MLAs sing songs after boarding the buses parked near the party office in Bhopal. pic.twitter.com/9YTqU9L1hz
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Madhya Pradesh: Buses parked near the party office in Bhopal, begin leaving from the spot. BJP MLAs of the state have boarded the buses. MLA Vijay Shah (pic 4) says, "We are going either to Bengaluru or Delhi." pic.twitter.com/cp36sxMk4p
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
The BJP is reportedly shifting its MLAs via buses to an unknown location. According to reports, 4-5 buses have been made ready after the BJP legislative party meeting was held. The Congress is also planning to shift its MLAs out of Bhopal to avoid any more setback.
Shobha Oza, Congress: Meeting (legislative part meet) was good. All Congress MLAs, including independents, were present. We have the number,we'll fight this together. MLAs who were rounded up were told that Scindia ji has to demand a Rajya Sabha seat so they need to come together pic.twitter.com/ASRjfmWzNI
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Laxman Singh, Congress: Congress is ready to fight back if the need arises. We have 94 MLAs, nobody can break the morale of the party.
Madhya Pradesh: BJP's legislative party meeting is underway at the party office in Bhopal. Union Minister & MP from Damoh, Prahlad Patel and other senior leaders of the party are also present. pic.twitter.com/TUIEluhDUH
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Delhi: Meeting of BJP Central Election Committee underway at party headquarters. https://t.co/630jP0aWho pic.twitter.com/0dOCNeeHp7
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Meeting of BJP Central Election Committee begins at party headquarters in Delhi.
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at BJP headquarters in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/abPtHYQyzy
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Another Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA, Manoj Choudhary (Hatpipliya constituency in Dewas) has tendered his resignation as member of legislative Assembly. Total Congress MLAs who have resigned are 22 now.
Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA from Sumawali (Morena), Adal Singh Kansana has tendered his resignation as member of legislative Assembly.
Delhi: Meeting between BJP President JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah concludes.
BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan on SP and BSP MLAs meeting him: "They have just come here to meet me on the occasion of Holi. There is no politics in it."
BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan on SP and BSP MLAs meeting him: They have just come here to meet me on the occasion of Holi. There is no politics in it. https://t.co/Fxid4eiBwQ pic.twitter.com/9WgayunLgR
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Madhya Pradesh: SP MLA Rajesh Shukla and BSP MLA Sanjeev Kushwaha arrive at the residence of BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Madhya Pradesh: SP MLA Rajesh Shukla and BSP MLA Sanjeev Kushwaha arrive at the residence of BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan. pic.twitter.com/YaNT1EJ5Gj
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
19 Congress MLAs, who are staying in Bengaluru, write a letter to Karnataka DGP, demanding protection and police escort. Letter reads, "We've come to Karnataka voluntarily for some important work, regarding which we require protection for our safe movement and stay in and around Bangaluru".
Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, Congress leader in Lok Sabha: Scindia ji held many senior posts in Congress party and was well respected, maybe he got lured by the offer of ministership given by Modi ji. We know his family has been associated with BJP for decades, but yet it is a big loss.
I don't think our Govt in Madhya Pradesh will survive. This is the present-day politics of BJP, always tries to topple and destabilize opposition governments.
Delhi: Jyotiraditya Scindia arrives at his residence after meeting PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah. Scindia has tendered his resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi pic.twitter.com/o9Fscq1wNm
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
19 Congress MLAs including six state ministers from Madhya Pradesh who are in a Bengaluru resort have tendered their resignation from the assembly after Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the party. https://t.co/pHiIM3uJtm pic.twitter.com/hHM0uKS8vQ
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
19 Congress MLAs including six state ministers from Madhya Pradesh who are in Bengaluru, tender their resignation from the assembly after Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the party. pic.twitter.com/ljTF7p90BV
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Shivraj Singh Chouhan: For some Congress leaders when Scindia ji was in Congress he was a Maharaja, now he is a mafia? These are their double standards.
Jyotiraditya Scindia's office staff leaves after handing over a hard copy of his resignation at Congress President Sonia Gandhi's residence https://t.co/NpsGIvfmJR pic.twitter.com/hO2WhjZGov
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
KC Venugopal, Congress: The Congress President has approved the expulsion of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect for anti-party activities.
Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia tenders resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi pic.twitter.com/GcDKu3BLw8
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh: We have evidence that three chartered plane (which reportedly flew Congress MLAs to Bengaluru) were arranged by the BJP. This is part of a conspiracy to reverse the mandate of people of Madhya Pradesh because Kamal Nath has acted against mafias. pic.twitter.com/zafZ7y2oDh
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh says "no idea why Scindia met PM Modi and Amit Shah". BJP is lying about no role in the crisis, they are trying to topple Madhya Pradesh government, he added.
18 Madhya Pradesh MLAs camping at resort in Bengaluru
As many as 18 MLAs from Madhya Pradesh, including 16 Congress rebels were camping at a resort near amid speculations of infighting in the party's state unit. Indicating return of resort politics to the city, the MLAs of the ruling Congress in Madhya Pradesh were taken to a resort after their arrival at the HAL airport on Monday by special chartered flights, BJP sources said on Tuesday.
Madhya Pradesh: Meeting underway at BJP office in Bhopal, senior leaders including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, VD Sharma and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe present.
Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia leave from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence pic.twitter.com/xTRdHq5SOl
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
Madhya Pradesh: Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Jitu Patwari, Bala Bachchan, Sajjan Singh Verma, Surendra Singh Baghel and others arrive at CM Kamal Nath's residence in Bhopal.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal arrives at 10 Janpath to meet the party president Sonia Gandhi.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi calls emergency meeting.
Madhya Pradesh Congress leader PC Sharma on Jyotiraditya Scindia: Talks are on with our party's leadership. There is no threat to our govt, its stable and will complete its full term.
Delhi: Jyotiraditya Scindia leaves from his residence pic.twitter.com/dVDwgC0ulU
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
BJP leader Narottam Mishra on being asked if BJP will welcome Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia into the party: Everyone is heartily welcome in Bharatiya Janata Party. We induct even grassroot-level workers, Scindia ji is a very big leader, he is definitely welcome.
Here are all the top developments from Madhya Pradesh – Read
A legislative party meeting of Congress party to take place today evening.
Bhopal: Earlier visuals of the meeting of #MadhyaPradesh CM Kamal Nath and the cabinet ministers. All cabinet ministers present in the meeting have tendered their resignation to the Chief Minister and all resignations have been accepted. pic.twitter.com/w6xGn6iLEI
— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020
Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot: I am hopeful that the current crisis in MP ends soon and that leaders are able to resolve differences. The state needs a stable government in order to fulfil the promises made to the electorate.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh: We tried to contact Scindia Ji (Jyotiraditya Scindia) but it is being told that he is suffering from swine flu, so haven't been able to speak to him.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former #MadhyaPradesh CM: This is Congress' internal matter and I would not like to comment on it. We had said on the first day that we are not interested in bringing down the government. pic.twitter.com/zZUjU2Qc2V
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020
The BJP has called a meeting of its 107 MLAs on Tuesday ahead of the March 16 budget session of the state Assembly and the Rajya Sabha polls for three seats scheduled on March 26. Chouhan, they added, has briefed the top party brass, including its president J P Nadda, about the developments in the state. The party had sent a list of 20 to 22 names, including that of national general secretaries Ram Madhav and Kailash Vijayvargiya, to its central poll panel to pick two candidates for the RS polls.
Jyotiraditya Scindia and Nath have fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister.
The BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs today where sources said Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the legislature party.