March 4, 2020
New Delhi: The internal rift within the Congress ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls to be held on March 23 could cost party dearly in the state. The differences between Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia have led the BJP to fish in the troubled waters.
Digvijaya Singh left for the airport in the morning on Wednesday but went to Madhyanchal Bhawan in Vasant Kunj to meet the MLAs and give instructions to the party leaders who are camping in Delhi.
The four Congress MLAs who are not in contact with the party leadership are said to be in Bengaluru, Congress Minister Jitu Patwari who was involved in the ‘rescue’ operation on Tuesday night, said that “we are hopeful that the MLAs will return”.
The BJP is playing safe in the game as it is not confident of the numbers. BJP MP V.D. Sharma categorically blamed Congress for the fiasco. He said, “this is the result of infighting between the two factions in the state.”
The Congress was set to win two Rajya Sabha seats with one seat going to Jyotiraditya Scindia but in changed circumstances the path to the upper house for Scindia is tough as the party may want to play safe.
The Congress has managed to get back six MLAs and sources close to Kamal Nath claim that they have got in touch with 10 BJP MLAs as the two had already cross voted during crucial bills in the assembly.
Narayan Tripathi, a rebel BJP MLA, had recently raised issues against the party on citizenship amendment act.
In the 228-member Assembly in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has 114 seats and formed the government with the help of two BSP, one Samajwadi Party and four independent Legislators. Two seats are currently vacant after the death of the respective MLAs. The BJP has 107 seats.IANS
