Bhopal, Suspense prevailed late on Thursday evening over the resignation of Congress legislator from Mandsaur, Hardip Singh Dung, who is among the four MLAs allegedly kidnapped and kept in Bengaluru.
While the resignation has been news since early evening through the social media, the Principal Secretary to the State assembly, A.P. Singh said: “I have learnt about it only through media. His letter had not reached the secretariat till the evening. Dung has switched off his mobile phone and the Speaker N.P. Prajapati informed later in the evening that the resignation has not reached him.”
Chief Minister Kamal Nath has also denied having received the resignation letter, though it was on the social media.”
The Congress office has also claimed there is no word from Dung though two letters on his letterhead addressed to the Speaker and the Chief Minister are on social media.
The resignation letter points to several issues concerning the party, the main being the lack of communication between the chief minister and the party workers.
The party insiders admitted many failures on the part of the leadership. They said senior leaders would soon meet to address them and hoped they would convince Hardip Singh to stay put in the legislature party.
The party may relieve Kamal Nath as PCC chief and elect a new leader. Hardip Singh had in a video message released through social media claimed he would remain in the party. “I would die a Congressman,” he was quoted as saying.
Last word is yet to be heard on the MLAs kidnapping drama more than 24 hours since “blowing over” of the crisis.
The script kept unfolding till well past midnight on Wednesday in Bhopal. The number of MLAs having returned from Gurugram kept changing.
Some party spokespersons said the television channels asked them for voice over at 2 am and they did not know the exact figure. Chief Minister Kamal Nath kept postponing his Press briefing.
The party has gone through similar convulsions earlier. The chief minister’s cool response on Wednesday suggested the crisis was superficial with most members having come back to Bhopal.
Of the 10 MLAs said to have been held hostage in a hotel in Manesar near Gurugram six were reported to have been brought back on Wednesday evening.
Four others including close supporters of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh — Bisahu Lal Singh, Raghubir Sigh Kansana and independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera were still in Bengaluru. Shera said he was in Bengaluru with family. No offer was made to him and he was not “up for sale”. No one could buy him, said Shera.
Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of offering Rs 25 to 35 crore to Congress MLA’s and that the saffron party was giving Rs 5 crore in advance and the remaining amounts in parts.
He put on record what was already in public domain since the past few months. The BJP leaders have also said it in so many words that all they need is a signal from the top leaders to topple the Kamal Nath government which is still short of majority in the assembly.
His specific charge on Monday was the former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his senior colleague Narottam Mishra. Incidentally, Mishra travelled with Digvijaya Singh last week in a train upto Dabra near Gwalior before breaking journey for Guna.
Digvijaya Singh’s re-nomination for Rajya Sabha is under consideration. His arch-rival within the party Jyotiraditya Scindia is the contender for the other seat Congress hopes to win.
For the seriousness of the charges the BJP leaders’ response was curiously casual. Narottam Mishra said: “I would not like to take Digvijaya’s charges seriously. He is known to be in the news through such tactics.”
Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan went public through a Twitter post saying: “Telling lies to cause sensation is an old habit of Digvijaya Singh. He must have done it this time to pressure the government for some unfulfilled wish. It is hard to know what goes through his mind which is never free from kinky thoughts.”
Digvijaya Singh’s allegations would have incurred a defamation suit in normal circumstances.
But there is a serious angle to the whole sequence of charges and counter charges.
The new state president of the BJP was in Bhopal today to meet the party MLAs one on one. And the BJP has been pointing to the many areas of disagreement among the Congress legislators. Many senior party MLAs have been openly demanding ministerial berths.
Kamal Nath had held out hope for such possibility some time ago. The Scindia faction which has at least nine MLAs has been complaining about the overbearing attitude of the bureaucracy.
In an embarrassing situation during the previous cabinet meeting, the Government had to back out on expanding the liquor vend network in the city after several ministers shot it down.
There is speculation over Rajya Sabha seats.
Of the three seats falling vacant from MP quota, Congress can safely win two. But it plans to split the opposition to win the third one too. The BJP had done this to embarrass by fielding the third candidate two years ago. The Congress can try to pay the BJP back in the same coin.
The other issue is about the by-elections for Agar-Malwa and Joura constituencies. If the Congress wins both by-elections it will earn a simple majority in the house.
