Former Congress MLAs, Scindia loyalists, return to Bhopal

Former Congress MLAs whose resignations led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh returned to Bhopalon Saturday evening.

Most of these legislators, all supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia, were camping in Bengaluru as an 18-day long political drama unfolded in Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier in the day, they joined the BJP in New Delhi at the residence of saffron party's national president J P Nadda.

From there they returned to Bhopal in three chartered flights, sources said.

"Twenty-one (now former) MLAs of Congress reached Bhopal after joining BJP in New Delhi in the presence of Nadda and Scindia. Another former MLA Suresh Dhakad could not go to Delhi due to the sudden demise of his daughter," Pankaj Chaturvedi, a close confidant of Scindia, told PTI.

BJP leaders welcomed them at Bhopal airport.

Dr Prabhuram Choudhary, one of the rebel MLAs and a former minister, said, "We were never under any pressure as being alleged. We and our leader Jyotiraditya Scindia were sidelined by Kamal Nath. Our leader was even told to hit the streets.

"We worked for the Congress for a long period. If we had not been pushed to the wall, why would we have taken this step?" he asked.

After landing in Bhopal, the former MLAs also visited BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's house.

Following the resignation of former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, 22 Congress legislators in his camp resigned from the Assembly.