Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath faces political crisis; 4 independent, 4 Congress MLAs held hostage in Haryana

New Delhi: Ahead of the March 26 Rajya Sabha biennial polls, Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government appears to be facing a political crisis with Congress party alleging that BJP leaders are hatching a conspiracy to topple the state government. Four Independent MLAs and four Congress MLAs are held hostage in Haryana, confirmed MP Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot.

Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also told ANI that a senior leader of the BJP has taken a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator to Delhi in a chartered flight, and alleged that "poaching" attempts were being made by the BJP on Congress MLAs in the state.
 
Digvijaya Singh further alleged, "BJP's Rampal Singh, Narottam Mishra, Arvind Bhadauria, Sanjay Pathak were going to give them money. Had there been a raid, they would have been caught...We think 10-11 MLAs were there, only 4 are still with them now, they will also come back to us."

"People with whom our contact was established were ready to come back to us. We were able to get in touch with Bisahulal Singh and Ramabai. Ramabai came back, even when BJP tried to stop her," he alleged. 

Madhya Pradesh Ministers, Jitu Patwari and Jaivardhan Singh, left from ITC Resort in Gurugram's Manesar, taking suspended BSP MLA Ramabai with them. Eight MLAs from MP were reportedly being held against their will by BJP at the hotel, Ramabai being one of them, alleged the Congress leaders. 

Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Jitu Patwari also made a statement after Digvijaya Singh alleged that "poaching" attempts were being made by the BJP on Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

"Senior BJP leaders including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former ministers Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh and Rampal Singh among others have forcibly taken eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy," Jitu Patwari told PTI over phone, while alleging that "The MLAs told us that they were forcibly confined by the BJP leaders."

He added, "We are trying to bring them back. Four of them have come back also but they have forcibly taken away tribal MLA Bisahulal Singh." 

Reports said that Digvijay and his minister son Jaivardhan Singh reached the Haryana hotel to meet the MLAs.

The BJP, however, dismissed the claim of Madhya Pradesh's former chief minister and said his statement was aimed at ensuring his re-nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh scheduled on March 26.

Shivraj Singh reportedly accused the Congress leader of making false statements and engaging in sensationalism. BJP vice-president and MLA Rameshwar Sharma told PTI that people dont take Digvijay Singh seriously. 

Notably, the faction-ridden MP Congress is a worried lot and wants it's MLAs to stay united for the Upper House polls.

Earlier on Tuesday, two BJP MLAs Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kol failed to turn up for a party meeting in Bhopal, setting off alarm bells in the BJP ahead of the March 26 biennial polls for three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.

Both the MLAs were once in the Congress and are not getting along well with the BJP, sources close to them said. Tripathi, however, told PTI over the phone that he was too busy in Delhi and that's why couldnt make it to the meeting called by the state BJP in view of the upcoming RS polls.

Madhya Pradesh BJP president V D Sharma could not be contacted for comments despite repeated calls. The state BJP leadership has reportedly told the party MLAs to stay alert and promptly inform them in case they are approached by the rival camp in connection with the RS polls.

After losing the Lok Sabha polls to BJP MP Pragya Thakur from Bhopal last year, Singh is likely to seek re-election to the Upper House of Parliament. The ruling party may field Jyotiraditya Scindia in the RS elections, as Scindia, like Singh, had also lost general elections from Guna.

The three RS seats, which are falling vacant, are currently held by Singh (Congress), Jatiya and Prabhat Jha (both from BJP). The BJP is making all-out efforts to retain the two seats, where Congress wants to take its tally to two from one as it has more MLAs this time around.

In the 230-member Assembly, Congress has 114 MLAs, followed by the BJP (107), independents (4), while the simple majority mark is 116. Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the BSP and one of the Samajwadi Party (SP) are providing support to the Kamal Nath government. Two seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator.

(With Agency Inputs)