Scindia meets PM Modi, Amit Shah, likely to join BJP with 17 legislators

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and his team of 17 MLAs are likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the former had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (March 10).

A meeting attended by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP leaders VD Sharma and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is in progress in the BJP office in Bhopal.

The vanishing act by the Scindia team had placed the Madhya Pradesh government led by Kamal Nath government on the brink of a precipice.

The political scene in the state on Tuesday (March 10) witnessed a flurry of activities, both in the Congress and the BJP camps, to put the odds in their favour.

Both the Congress and BJP have also called legislature party meetings in Bhopal to work out strategies.

Related news: Team Scindia stays elusive in MP, Kamal Nath faults BJP for crisis

While Kamal Nath accused the BJP of making attempts to destabilise his government, BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has rubbished the allegations, stating that the crisis is the ‘internal matter’ of the Congress and the BJP plays no role in it.

“We have nothing to do with this. 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,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Reports quoting BJP sources said Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar is playing an active role in the matter and was part of a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Speculations have it that Kamal Nath in a last-ditch attempt to save his government may reshuffle his cabinet to accommodate disgruntled MLAs who may be considering moving to the BJP. It became evident once after a series of meetings on Monday night, 20 ministers of the Madhya Pradesh cabinet tendered their resignations, to prove their allegiance to the chief minister.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who commands the allegiance of the missing MLAs, is off the radar since Monday.

Related news: Amid signs of trouble in MP, Sonia meets Kamal Nath, discusses RS nominees 

Taking a dig at him, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday night said the party is unable to reach him as he has “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,” he was quoted telling reporters.

Sources, however, say that while the 17 MLAs have been flown in a chartered flight to Karnataka, where the BJP is in power, Scindia is camping in Delhi.

Several reports attribute the crisis to a battle between Digvijay Singh and Scindia for two of the three Rajya Sabha seats from the state. The third seat is expected to go to the BJP.

Quoting sources close to Scindia, an Indian Express report said, the Congress leader, who has felt “ignored” and “upset” for having to play second fiddle to Kamal Nath in the government, expects to be the first choice for the Rajya Sabha seats.

With the elections slated for March 26, the last date for filing nominations for the three seats is March 13.

Related news: Missing independent MLA returns to Madhya Pradesh, says he supports Kamal Nath

The MLAs who have disappeared belong to the Gwalior-Chambal belt, a stronghold of the Scindia family. The Indian Express report said a group of 25 have been reported to have been dropped in Bengaluru and lodged in a gated community in the far eastern part of the city.

Incidentally, the event has unfolded on the birth anniversary of Scindia’s father Madhavrao Scindia.

The current development is an extension of last week’s crisis when eight MLAs of the Kamal Nath government, were allegedly whisked away to Karnataka and four returned after the intervention of senior Congress leaders.