A day after former Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia went incommunicado with 17 MLAs of his party, pushing the Madhya Pradesh Congress government into crisis, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said Scindia was "suffering from swine flu". "We tried to contact Scindia ji but it is being said that he has swine flu, so haven't been able to speak to him," Singh said, reported ANI. "Whoever will try to disrespect the voters' mandate in Madhya Pradesh will get a befitting reply from the people in the state," he said, according to NDTV.
Digvijaya Singh, Congress: 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. #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/y5Ab984gaq
— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2020
The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh plunged into a crisis on Monday as a sulking 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.
The resignations are widely seen as an attempt to coax some of the malcontent MLAs back into the fold with the promise of cabinet posts. Nath alleged that the BJP was adopting immoral ways to "destabilise my government" and vowed not to let it happen. Scindia and the 17 legislators have gone incommunicado, sparking intense speculation about the fate of his government. Many of these legislators, including ministers, had flown to Bengaluru Monday morning.
CM 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 10pm.
The Congress, which was voted to power in MP after 15 years in 2018, has 114 MLAs. The opposition BJP has 107 legislators. Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government.
