Even as the Congress seemed to tide over the political turmoil of the past week in Madhya Pradesh, fresh crisis erupted on Monday afternoon after 17 Congress MLAs, including six ministers, who are supporters of former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, went incommunicado and reportedly flew out to Bengaluru.
The development took place immediately after Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday. After the meeting, the CM had said he had apprised the Congress president about the prevailing political situation and she offered him guidance. He added that he would follow her guidance.
Sources said the MLAs and ministers, supporting Scindia, went to Bengaluru. The move is part of a strategy to either demand the post of MP Congress Committee (MPCC) president to Scindia or a Rajya Sabha seat. It could also be part of decision to switch sides and join the BJP.
According to sources, Scindia was likely to meet Sonia Gandhi. Earlier, there were reports that Scindia would be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Scindia left his Delhi home at around 5.40pm by a car driven by himself and returned home at around 7.20 pm, which led to further speculations that he might have met the prime minister, taking some back door entry.
The speculation was, however, proven to be wrong and it was said Scindia had met Congress leaders Sachin Pilot (Rajasthan deputy chief minister) and Milind Deora (president of Mumbai Congress Committee).
There had been speculations that the decision had been taken to make Scindia the MPCC chief as well as offer him a Rajya Sabha seat. Reports said he was was likely to accompany Kamal Nath back to Bhopal and announcement about his appointment would be made.
However, Kamal Nath returned to Bhopal alone and immediately convened a high-level meeting that was attended by about 10 state ministers, eformer chief minister Digvijaya Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and legal advisor Vivek Tankha and some MLAs. Director General of Police Rajendra Kumar and chief secretary S.R. Mohanty were also present in the meeting. The meeting continued till filing of this report and was to be followed by a cabinet meeting, sources said.
A cavalcade that reached the state hangar in Bhopal to receive Scindia returned empty-handed.
Confusion prevailed on the happenings as ministers, Congress senior leaders and even Congress spokespersons did not respond to the repeated calls made to confirm the situation. None of the MLAs and ministers in the Scindia camp could be contacted.
Meanwhile, in an unusual move, the Madhya Pradesh BJP convened a meeting of legislature party on Tuesday despite it being a holiday for Holi, when normally all political activities remain suspended and leaders meet their electorate. This added fuel to the situation.
Chartered flight
A passengers list of a chartered flight from Delhi to Bengaluru with names of ten passengers, including the Congress ministers and MLAs who are Scindia loyalists, made rounds on the social media. The document mentioned that the chartered flight departed from Delhi at 8.00am on March 9. However, authenticity of the document could not be confirmed.
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The names that appeared on the chartered flight document included Civil Supplies Minister Pradyumna Singh Tomar and MLAs Rajvardhan Singh (Dattigaon), Giriraj (Dandotia), Raksha (Saronia), Jaswant (Yashwant) Jatav, Suresh Dhakad, Jajpal Singh (Jajji) and Brijendra Yadav. Two other names included Bankim Silawat (could be Health Minister Tulsi Silwat) and Purushottam Parashar (unidentifiable).
Apart from Tomar and Silawat, the other ministers who went incommunicado include Women and Child Development Minister Imarti Devi, Labour Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Revenue Minister Govind Singh Rajput and School Education Minister Prabhuram Chaudhari, sources said.
The meeting at CM House
Those present in the high-level meeting at CM House on Monday evening included ministers Govind Singh, Sajjan Singh Verma, Jitu Patwari, Jaivardhan Singh, Arif Aqueel, Tarun Bhanot, Lakhan Singh, Hukum Singh Karada, Surendra Singh Baghel, Priyavrat Singh and Sachin Yadav.
Earlier on Sunday, the Congress seemed to have tided over the crisis the party faced on March 3 after 10 MLAs were found cooped up in a resort in Manesar of Haryana. Six MLAs, including three of Congress, two of BSP and one of SP, were brought back the next day after a dramatic 'rescue operation'. Out of the four missing MLAs, independent Surendra Singh alias Shera returned on Saturday and Bisahulal Singh on Sunday and expressed support to the government. Two MLAs, Hardeep Singh Dang and Raghuraj Kansana, still remain missing.