Kamal Nath: 3 reasons why lotus didn’t bloom, and 'kamal' wilted

Congress leader Kamal Nath’s move to jettison his old party and join the BJP has apparently come to a naught.

Apart from other things, this is so because the BJP first warmed up to Nath but soon became wary of taking him in. Those keeping a tab on the moves of the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister point out to at least three reasons behind the fiasco.

No 1: Scindia says no

First, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia did not like the idea of Kamal Nath joining the BJP. Scindia had brought down Kamal Nath’s government in MP about four years ago. Ever since, or for even longer, the two have been daggers drawn.

The two have led warring factions of the Congress in the past. This never deescalated. Until the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Nath had been welcoming back some of the Scindia loyalists who had left the Congress to join the BJP earlier.

This led to more bitterness between the two heavyweights of MP politics.

No 2: Eye on New Delhi

Second, sources say, after the drubbing that the Congress faced in the Vidhan Sabha polls in MP last year, Kamal Nath wanted to get out of state politics.

He was eyeing a Rajya Sabha ticket but the Congress did not oblige him. The lone seat that Congress can hope to win in MP went to state party treasurer Ashok Singh.

The BJP, too, could not spare a Rajya Sabha seat for Nath from Madhya Pradesh. It fielded four candidates — Maya Vikram Singh Naroliya, Balayogi Umesh Nath, Banshilal Gurjar and L Murugan —  for the February 27 polls.

No 3: Indignation of Sikhs

Third, Nath’s past was raked up by a few Sikh social media warriors, including BJP youth wing leader Tajinder Singh Bagga, who opposed Nath’s possible entry into the BJP.

Sikhs blame Nath for the alleged failure of the then Congress government in 1984 in controlling the riots that rocked Delhi following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

This could have deterred the BJP from taking Nath into the party fold. More so since the party is still keeping its options open for a possible alliance with the Akali Dal before the Lok Sabha polls.

Sources say the BJP finally decided Kamal Nath’s entry at this point of time could jeopardise this possibility.

Son Nakul Nath’s prospects

Taken together, these factors are thought to have stalled the entry of the 77-year-old Congress veteran — as also that of his son Nakul Nath — into the BJP.

The son is the lone Congress Lok Sabha member from MP. Bagga, in his social media posts, showed willingness to make an exception for Nakul with regard to the entry into the BJP, but not to the senior Nath.

Dilly-dallying?

Kamal Nath has been vague about leaving the Congress for the BJP. Earlier, he neither confirmed nor denied speculation and media reports about this.

But, since February 18 evening, his close associates in the Congress started saying Nath, at his Chankyapuri, New Delhi residence, was busy sifting through charts and other documents to draw a list of Congress candidates for Madhya Pradesh alongside a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.

Newspersons waiting outside the sprawling house were, however, not obliged with comments by Nath himself.

Strong denial

But, in the meantime, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh ruled out the possibility of Nath deserting the Congress to join the BJP.

Both the MP Congress leaders recalled the decades-old close ties of Nath with the top party leadership, starting from the time of the late Indira Gandhi. Nath was among the Doon School friends of her son Sanjay Gandhi.

Obviously, both Patwari and Singh were anxious about a possible shift by Nath, since he is said to have about a dozen MLAs staunchly loyal to him. Clutching his coattails, these MLAs could have easily crossed over from the Congress to the BJP if and when an ‘Operation Lotus’ takes place in Madhya Pradesh.