Bhopal: The Congress is considering moving its MLAs to a party-ruled state ahead of the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh after the BJP fielded a surprise third candidate, sources said on Monday.
The proposal is aimed at keeping the party’s flock together amid concerns of possible cross-voting in the election for three Rajya Sabha seats from the state, they said.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) held a late-night meeting at the residence of Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar.
The legislators were consulted on the proposal to move them out of Madhya Pradesh until polling, an aide to the LoP told PTI.
The move came following a suggestion from central leadership.
Around 60 MLAs attended the meeting, a source close to Singhar said. One of its MLA did not attend the meeting as he was out in Delhi while veteran leader Kamal Nath took part in it virtually, he added.
“The opinion of the legislators was sought after consultations with the party’s central leadership. A final decision on the destination, possibly Bengaluru in Karnataka, is expected shortly,” the source said.
The MLAs could leave the state as early as Tuesday if the proposal receives the approval of the Congress high command, he said.
The Congress appears to be taking a cautious approach in view of the political crisis of 2020, when the resignation of a group of MLAs led by Jyotiraditya Scindia reduced the then Kamal Nath government to a minority and eventually brought it down.
Scindia is currently a minister in the NDA-led Union Cabinet.
The Congress currently has 64 MLAs in the 230-member Assembly. However, one legislator is ineligible to vote following a Supreme Court order, while Sagar MLA Nirmala Sapre, who has publicly shared the stage with BJP leaders in recent months, has remained absent from Congress Legislature Party meetings.
With the assembly’s effective strength at 229, a candidate requires 58 first-preference votes to secure election to the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP, which has 164 MLAs, is assured of winning two seats with 116 votes and has fielded party national general secretary Tarun Chugh and state unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal. It needs eight more votes to reach the magic number of 58 even if it gets votes of Sapre and a tribal political outfit Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) Kamlesh Dodiyar.
Sapre was spotted hanging near the chief minister’s house by many.
The contest for the third seat became more intriguing after the BJP on Monday fielded Mahesh Kewat, chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Fishermen Welfare Board, as its third candidate.
While Chugh and Agrawal filed their nomination papers on Saturday, Kewat entered the fray on the last day for filing nominations.
The saffron party had been keeping its cards close to its chest, and set up Kewat only after three days of deliberations and keeping its central leadership in the loop, party insiders said.
The Congress has nominated former MP Meenakshi Natarajan and remains confident of retaining enough support to secure her election. Kewat’s entry has added a new dimension to the contest.
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