BHOPAL : Congress-led govt in Madhya Pradesh has slumped into greater crisis after Chief Minister Kamal Nath's last-minute attempt to placate rebels failed and 20 ministers submitted their resignations.
17 ministers ,including 6 ministers, had taken off to undisclosed locations in Bengaluru on Monday. Following this, Kamal Nath convened a late night meeting hoping to resolve intenal strife. . However the rebels, all from CM’s rival Jyotiraditya Scindia faction, offered their resignation. The move, the legislators claim, is a call to reconstitute the cabinet. However, the on and off game is largely viewed as BJP’s ploy for takeover.
Kamal Nath meanwhile came down heavily on BJP saying its coup threat will not work- an allegation BJP denies. Earlier, reconciliatory talks held by Congress bore no results. The Minister of Forests – one among those who resigned - asked Kamal Nath to reconstitute the cabinet by including some of the previously left out legislators.
Interestingly BJP has called a meeting of their own during the day. Senior Congress leader had earlier said that, the mobile phones of all MLAs belonging to Scindia faction had been switched off. BJP is attempting to horse trade MLAs in order to topple Congress in the State, he added.
13-month-old Kamal Nath govt has 120 seats in Madhya Pradesh’s 230 member Assembly : 113 Congress, 1 – BSP, 4 – Independents. BJP has 107 MLAs , while two seats lie vacant. One MLA from BASP is under suspension over an internal issue.
