Bhopal: In a show of strength and unity, factional leaders of ruling Congress and party MLAs in Madhya Pradesh met here over dinner, discussing ways to avert any threat to Kamal nath government in the wake of party legislators tendering resignations in Karnataka and endangering the coalition government there.
Two veteran leaders of Congress in MP, chief minister Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with all the state ministers, party MLAs and the six legislators who provided outside support to the state government, met over dinner here.
The dinner was hosted by Madhya Pradesh state health minister Tulsi Silawat.
Former chief minister Digvijay Singh could not attend the dinner since he was away in Maharashtra to attend a marriage function.
The “get-together” comes amid rumblings in a section of Kamal Nath ministry over “outside interference” in their respective ministries as well as the current crisis in the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka.
“We sought to demonstrate that there is absolutely no threat to Kamal Nath government. All the Congress MLAs and ministers besides the legislators who provide outside support to our government in the state fully back the chief minister.
The get-together was organised to send a clear signal to BJP that none in Congress Legislature Party is vulnerable to poaching by BJP which is trying to destabilise the Kamal Nath government and return to power through back door in MP”, Congress spokesman here Pankaj Chaturvedy said. Earlier, Mr Scindia joined the chief minister over lunch at the latter’s official residence here where the two leaders had a long discussion apparently to take stock of the situation and iron out their differences.
Mr Scindia, who was a chief ministerial aspirant, had later backed Mr Nath to assume the position.
However, there were reports that the two leaders were not on same page on several issues, leading to unease in ruling Congress.
