On 18th February, veteran Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari’s office dismissed the rumours suggesting his potential move to the Bharatiya Janata Party as “baseless” and “unfounded.” The statement followed earlier reports from sources claiming that the parliamentarian was in contact with BJP and intended to run on the saffron party’s symbol from Punjab’s Ludhiana constituency in the Lok Sabha poll. This comes after rumours of Kamal Nath joining BJP.
His office declared, “The speculation that he will join the BJP is baseless and unfounded. Manish Tewari is in his constituency and looking after development work there. Last night, he stayed at a Congress worker’s home.” According to earlier reports, the member of parliament had communication with the BJP. They further stated that he was eager to run on the party’s election symbol in the national election from the Ludhiana seat.
Amid the speculations of him joining BJP, Manish Tewari re-shared a video of his statement in Lok Sabha on 9th February on X, slamming the Modi govt on the white paper on the economy. He had said said while sharing the video earlier, “The White paper on the economy is a black brush designed to malign by insinuation & innuendo.” And now by re-sharing the video, most probably Manish Tewari is hinting that he is not switching over to BJP.
Meanwhile, there is a strong buzz over senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and his son Nakul Nath along with several Congressmen are likely to switch to BJP soon. Nakul Nath’s potential departure from Congress was seen as more plausible after he deleted the party name from his X (formerly Twitter) bio. Sources within the Congress disclosed, “Kamal Nath is likely to switch to the BJP and the Congress leadership has made no attempts to reach out to him. Things have come to a knot with Kamal Nath actively lobbying for a Rajya Sabha ticket.”
Jitu Patwari, the leader of the Madhya Pradesh Congress responded to the story and called the speculation “baseless.” He added that he could not imagine “Indira Gandhi’s third son” joining the saffron party even in his dreams. Notably, Jitu Patwari took up Kamal Nath’s position as leader of the grand old party’s state unit after the latter was ousted from the post following the abysmal performance of Congress in the assembly poll held in December last year. Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh also refuted media claims on Nakul Nath, labelling the rumours as “breaking news hunting.”
However, the rumours intensified on 17th February following Kamal Nath’s arrival in Delhi. The seasoned lawmaker told reporters in the nation’s capital that he would notify the media initially if anything of the sort transpired. “It is not about denying, you are saying this, you people are getting excited. I am not getting excited, this side or that side, but if there would be any such thing, I would inform you first,” he alleged.
Rakesh Katare, the Congress District President from Vidisha and Dinesh Ahirwar, a former MLA, were among many state leaders who changed sides and went to BJP in Madhya Pradesh, earlier this week. Senior Congress leaders are angry that the party declined the invitation to the landmark “Pran Pratishtha” event of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, according to BJP state president Vishnu Datt Sharma.
He asserted, “So today I am telling you the environment, we have kept our doors open because there are people in Congress who feel that Congress boycotts Lord Ram, India has Ram in its heart. When Congress insults him, then there are people who are pained by this, who are upset, and they should get a chance. If those whose names you are taking have pain in their hearts, then they are also welcome.”
According to reports, Nakul Nath is angry with the party for not announcing his candidacy for the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency. Kamal Nath has always maintained his position in Chhindwara. The Congress leader held the seat for nine terms in a row. It is the sole seat in Madhya Pradesh that the Congress won in the 2019 general election. Nakul Nath secured a victory there, despite the BJP winning the other 28 seats in the state.
Nakul Nath voiced, “This time too, I will be your candidate for Lok Sabha elections. Rumours are going around whether Kamal Nath or Nakul Nath would contest the election, I would like to make it clear that Kamal Nath won’t contest the election, I will,” while talking to a gathering earlier this week.
