Bhopal, Two simultaneous legislative party meetings of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) presented a stark contrast here on Monday evening.
The meeting of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) held at Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s residence was reported to have been attended by 93 members, including four Independents. Only 88 Congress MLAs were present, suggesting the absence of 26 MLAs.
While 22 resignations from a total strength of 114 have been accounted for, mystery continued over the absence of four others. The mood was expectedly sombre. The one Samajwadi Party member and two BSP members did not attend the meeting possibly due to the technical reason of not belonging to the Congress.
One key takeaway from the meeting was that the Congress was not willing to throw in the towel and would continue to fight to finish.
The development came after Congress strongman from Madhya Pradesh Jyotiraditya Scindia severed his nearly two-decade long association with the party on Tuesday after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi here along with Home Minister Amit Shah, sinking the Kamal Nath-led 15-month-old MP government into a deep crisis.
The Speaker’s office said that it has received only 19 resignations so far and will decide on them in due time.
The ruling party then decided to send former minister Sajjan Singh Verma to Bengaluru to see if all those kept there had resigned on their own volition or were coerced into quitting the party. It is another matter whether Verma would be allowed to meet them.
The BJP legislative party met in a celebratory mood, but no decision was taken in the meeting. Earlier, reports had suggested that former MP Chief Minister Shivraj Siingh Chouhan would be handed the leadership of the party in place of Gopal Bhargava.
The decision seems to have been deferred and Chouhan has been asked to be in Delhi at the earliest. He is likely to be in Delhi on Wednesday.
The new state chief of the saffron party, V.D. Sharma, who seems to have started on an auspicious note, was very cheerful to be welcomed by Bhargava. He expressed assurance to see the party in power soon.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Laxman Singh had said that the Kamal Nath-led government should be prepared to sit in the opposition as it will not survive in the state. But he changed his posture after the CLP meeting, saying that even with current numbers, the Congress could fight with BJP’s numbers acquired through unfair means.
Laxman Singh happens to be the younger brother of former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh. “I will meet Chief Minister Kamal Nath to discuss the future strategy,” Laxman Singh said.
The number game at 0 p.m. on Tuesday:
Total strength of the Assembly: 230 (-2) = 228
Resignations so far: 22
Strength on possible acceptance of resignations: 206
Majority mark: 104
BJP: 107
Congress: 92 + BSP 2 + SP 1 + Independents 4 = 99
With the Congress’s clout being substantially reduced, it is has very slim chance of pulling it off hereabouts.
