Madhya Pradesh political drama ends after six 'hostage' MLAs rescued

A nearly 24-hour ‘hostage drama’ that threatened to destabilise the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government almost ended with six MLAs, who the BJP had allegedly kept hostage at a Gurugram hotel, returned to Bhopal by a special plane on Wednesday afternoon.

Four MLAs are still untraceable. They were forcibly flown to Bengaluru, alleged Congress leader Digvijay Singh who accused the BJP of offering Rs 25-35 crore to the MLAs to switch sides and help topple the Kamal Nath government.

The BJP dismissed horse-trading charges and hit back at Congress for blaming it for a crisis emanating from “its own factional politics”.

The “rescued” MLAs are Rajesh Shukla (SP), Sanjiv Singh Kushwaha, Ram Bai (BSP), Aidal Singh, Ranvir Jatav and Kamlesh Jatav (Congress).

The missing MLAs who are believed to be lodged in Bengaluru are Bisahu Lal, Hardip Singh Dang, Raghuraj Kansana (all Congress) and Surendra Singh Shera (independent).

The six “rescued” MLAs were taken to the chief minister’s house from the Bhopal airport where they had discussions with Kamal Nath in the presence of AICC general secretary Dipak Bavaria.

Digvijay Singh’s son and state Finance Minister Jaivardhan told DH that the MLAs have pledged unconditional loyalty to the chief minister.

Even as the Congress claimed that the crisis for the government has blown over, cracks appeared in the BJP over its role in precipitating the crisis. While all top BJP leaders, including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state president V D Sharma, have denied the party’s hand in the captivity drama, former minister Narottam Mishra claimed that 15 to 20 Congress MLAs are still in touch with him.

Kamal Nath said his government was stable and would complete its five-year term. He said the BJP is trying to destabilise the government ever since a crackdown was launched against mafias including land-grabbers, illegal mining gangs and spurious drug-makers.

Madhya Pradesh MLAs in Bengaluru?

Four MLAs from the Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh were flown in to Bengaluru early Wednesday morning and moved to an unknown location, according to sources, in what appears to be a Karnataka-style Operation Kamala that threatens to topple the Kamal Nath government.

According to police sources, the MLAs landed at HAL Airport around 5.30 am on Wednesday. Apparently, they were shifted to Whitefield. Speculation is rife that some more MLAs may be brought to the city and that all of them will be moved to Chikkamagaluru or Madikeri.

Last year, the Congress-JD(S) coalition government was toppled when 17 legislators defected. Most of them camped for over two months at a Mumbai hotel, even as the Congress and the JD(S) accused the BJP of poaching and luring them by offering money and power. Ten of the defectors, who got disqualified and re-elected, are now ministers in the Yediyurappa government.