JOIN USSulking Scindia meets Modi, puts MP government on notice
Marking a big shift, sulking Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pushing the 15-month old Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh on a brink of collapse.
Capping swift political developments overnight, Scindia met Modi at his official 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence accompanied by Home Minister Amit Shah, sending clear signal of the erstwhile Gwalior royal's shift to the BJP camp.
At least 20 MLAs loyal to Scindia remained ensconced in Bengaluru, waiting for directions from their leader to ditch the Congress and topple the government in the state.
The move came on late Madhavrao Scindia's 75th birth anniversary.
Scindia’s shift to the BJP will be mark a full circle for the erstwhile Gwalior royal family, whose matriarch – Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia – was among the founders of the Bhartiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the BJP.
Rajmata’s son Madhavrao had charted his own political path to join the Congress, a party his son Jyotiraditya joined after his father’s demise. Jyotiraditya’s aunt’s Yashodhara and Vasundhara have been with the BJP – the former a minister in the previous BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, while the latter a two-term chief minister of Rajasthan.
AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal met Congress President Sonia Gandhi here to apprise her of the political developments.
Last night, in a final bid to save his government Kamal Nath had secured the resignations of his entire council of ministers ahead of a reshuffle in which he could accommodate the disgruntled MLAs with ministerial berths.
Ahead of Scindia’s meeting with the Prime Minister, BJP leaders offered glowing tributes to late Madhavrao Scindia on his 75th birth anniversary.
Ironically, only a fortnight back on February 26, Scindia attended the Congress Workinng Committee meeting to condemn the Modi government for its handling of the Delhi riots and demanded resignation of Home Minister Shah.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, Congress has the support of 121 members, while the BJP has 107 legislators. There are two vacancies in the state assembly, bringing down its effective strength to 228.
If 16 Congress MLAs quit, the effective strength of the Madhya Pradesh assembly would be 212, giving BJP the edge to have a shot at power.