The Congress party on Tuesday claimed that the BJP took 10 of its MLAs from Madhya Pradesh to a luxury hotel in Gurugram as a part of its conspiracy to topple the government in Madhya Pradesh. As per reports, 6 Congress MLAs, 2 BSP and an independent MLA were allegedly held hostage in the ITC hotel in Haryana.
The high-voltage political drama started late Tuesday night after the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh set the Congress party on its heels when he accused the BJP of trying to overturn the government in Madhya Pradesh. Singh also alleged that a senior leader of the BJP had taken a BSP lawmaker to Delhi in a chartered flight, asserting that “poaching” attempts were being made by the BJP on Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.
Digvijaya Singh accused the BJP of indulging in horsetrading by offering Rs 25-35 crores to the Congress MLAs to switch side. However, he added saying that there is no threat to the Congress government and it is absolutely safe.
As per reports, BSP MLA Rambai was allegedly manhandled when Congress ministers reached the hotel to meet her. “When we got to know about the BJP’s ploy, Jitu Patwari and Jaivardhan Singh went sent there. People with whom our contact was established were ready to come back to us. We were able to get in touch with Bisahulal Singh and Ramabai. Ramabai came back even when BJP tried to stop her,” Digvijaya Singh said.
Earlier, Jitu Patwari flew to Delhi to meet the Congress MLAs allegedly held against their will in an ITC resort in Gurugram. Speaking to news agency PTI, he said, “Senior BJP leaders including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former ministers Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh and Rampal Singh among others who had forcibly taken MLAs to a hotel in Haryana.”
“Shivraj Singh Chauhan is the mastermind behind all this. BJP wants to kill democracy. Is this the kind of politics Modiji talks about? MLAs have been offered Rs 50 to 60 crores to join the BJP. Some MLAs are in Bengaluru, but they are with us,” Patwari told news agency ANI.
Madhya Pradesh Minister Jitu Patwari: Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the mastermind behind all this; several videos&audios are viral now which reveal his role in everything that is happening. Madhya Pradesh ki sarkar ko koi khatra nahi hai. https://t.co/izidXARRvR
— ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2020
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s son Jaivardhan Singh stated that Congress was successful in getting six of 10 MLAs out of the hotel and the party was in touch with the rest of the MLAs. 4 MLAs are still in the Gurugram luxury resort but the Congress leaders have claimed that they will soon return back.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath too reassuringly said that things are under control and the MPs will come back.
However, rubbishing the allegations levelled against him, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that Digvijaya Singh is a blackmailer who tries to keep his relevance by issuing baseless statements.
Regarding the allegations of being the mastermind of this “poaching” attempt, Chauhan said, “The matter is of their party but allegations are being levelled against us. There are so many factions within the Congress party that they are fighting within themselves.”
Former Madhya Pradesh CM & BJP leader SS Chouhan on Congress’ allegations that BJP is trying to buy Congress MLAs in MP:Maamla unke ghar ka hai, aarop hum par lagate hain. Unka kaam kewal aarop lagana hai. Ab itne gutt hain Congress mein ki aapas mein hi maaram maar machi hui hai https://t.co/PLLiwPKUGB pic.twitter.com/X92VHG9cwv
— ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2020
The ongoing upheaval can be attributed to the fact that the ruling coalition led by the Congress Party in Madhya Pradesh has a tenuous majority of 121 seats in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly. The BJP, on the other hand, has 107 MLAs. In such a scenario, the Congress MLAs switching sides to the BJP can topple the coalition government in Madhya Pradesh and provide the BJP with the prerequisite numbers to stake a claim at the government.
