Published 12:23 IST, March 10th 2020
Sonia Gandhi's top aide Ahmed Patel makes last-ditch overture to Scindia amid MP crisis
In a last-ditch attempt to pacify a miffed Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress' Ahmed Patel tried to convince the former stay back within the party's fold on Tuesday
In a last-ditch attempt to pacify miffed Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, senior Congress leader and Sonia Gandhi-aide Ahmed Patel tried to convince the former to remain within the party's fold. This comes a day after all the Madhya Pradesh cabinet ministers tendered their resignations to the Madhya Pradesh CM in an apparent effort to create space for the Scindia-camp MLAs, 18 of whom jetted off to Bengaluru. Furthermore, on Tuesday morning, in a startling twist, Jyotiraditya Scindia reached PM Modi's residence with Amit Shah.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi had directed Ahmed Patel to convince the miffed leader; however, Scindia hasn't responded. Earlier, Sonia Gandhi had also called Scindia amid the growing number of rebels in Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs. Sources have also reported that Scindia had demanded both a Rajya Sabha seat in the upcoming polls and the post of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee chief, but the Congress' purported willingness to accept these demands doesn't appear to have compelled the former Guna MP to change his mind.
In the latest development, it is reported that there are efforts being made to woo back disgruntled Jyotiraditya Scindia to save the Madhya Pradesh govt. Reportedly, Rahul Gandhi met with Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath in the national capital to discuss the political crisis on Monday night.
BJP 'welcomes' Scindia
BJP's Narottam Mishra on Tuesday morning said that senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia was 'welcome to join' the saffron party if he wishes to. "Scindia Ji is definitely welcome to join BJP if he wishes to. Our party inducts even grass-root level workers, then Scindia Ji is a tall leader," said Mishra.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Congress currently has 114 MLAs, followed by the BJP with 107, with the current number of rebel MLAs posing a serious threat to the Kamal Nath government.
Kamal Nath meets Sonia Gandhi
Addressing the deepening rifts, Kamal Nath has stated that he had met Sonia Gandhi and discussed the political situation but evaded comments on Scindia - who skipped the meeting with Nath and Sonia Gandhi claiming 'ill-health'.
Updated 12:23 IST, March 10th 2020