Bhopal: The Congress high command has alerted the Madhya Pradesh party leadership to be vigilant and prevent a recurrence of the Karnataka debacle in which nine party MLAs have resigned from the Assembly.
With crucial the Budget session of the MP Assembly commencing from Monday, the party high command rushed AICC general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad to Bhopal to take stock of the situation and keep the flock in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) together.
Mr Azad is scheduled to address the CLP on Sunday evening, a senior Congress leader said.
Although, the party tried to underplay his presence in Bhopal on the eve of the Budget session, Congress insiders said he was rushed to the state capital by the Central leadership in the wake of the Karnataka developments.
Congress has 114 MLAs in the 230-member MP Assembly is short of the half-way mark by two legislators. It has formed government with outside support from two Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs, the Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator and three Independents. The BJP has 109 MLAs, six sort of the halfway mark.
Sources said Chief Minister Kamal Nath has assigned the task of ‘taking care’ of MLAs of his party as well as of those supporting his government to his trusted lieutenants.
Besides, former chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Digvijay Singh, said to be Mr Nath’s trouble-shooter, was believed to be keeping vigil on the party MLAs.
BJP is yet to state if it would force the Kamal Nath government to face a floor test during the Budget session.
In a related development, BJP Legislature Party leader Gopal Bhargav met former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the latter’s official residence in the evening to chalk out the party’s plan of action.
