MP: Cong alleges poaching by BJP; Nath says govt has majority

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh appears to have survived a poaching bid, with senior party leaders on Wednesday blaming the BJP for the alleged move and Chief Minister Kamal Nath asserting that there was no threat to his regime.

In a late-night political drama in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress claimed the BJP took eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy to topple the state government.

State minister Jitu Patwari said BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh took the eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy to topple the Kamal Nath-led government. The BJP has denied the charge.

Nath said his government, which came to power in December 2017 by ousting the BJP, has an absolute majority and it has proved this in the state Assembly on several occasions.

He said the BJP "faced defeat every time" and this time also, its plans will prove to be like "Mungerilal's dream", referring to the famous fictional character from a television serial.

Nath also accused the BJP of plotting a conspiracy to come back to power in the state in an "undemocratic manner".

Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia accused the BJP of orchestrating a move to "poach" the legislators of his party in Madhya Pradesh, but asserted that Congress government in the state was "completely secure and stable".

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh claimed that a senior BJP leader took a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator to Delhi in a chartered flight, alleging that poaching attempts were being made by the BJP on Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

"Senior BJP leaders including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former ministers Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh and Rampal Singh among others forcibly took eight MLAs to a hotel in Haryana as part of a conspiracy," Patwari told PTI.

"The MLAs told us that they were forcibly confined by the BJP leaders," he said.

According to the Congress sources, among the eight MLAs who were taken to Haryana, four are from the Congress, one is an independent and the rest are from BSP and SP.

They said BSP MLA Rambai was allegedly manhandled when Congress ministers reached the hotel to meet her.

Digvijaya Singh had on Monday alleged his party MLAs were being offered a "huge amount of money" by BJP leaders as part of its attempts to destabilise the Kamal Nath government.

Nath said the BJP "killed democracy and constitutional values" in many states, including Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, and it is trying to replicate the same in Madhya Pradesh.

"We have full faith in all our MLAs, we have no doubt on their integrity, honesty. The truth of this black money earned from corruption and scams has been revealed and all BJP's conspiracies will fall flat on its face only," he added.

On the alleged poaching episode, Scindia said, "This is 100 per cent an attempt to poach (MLAs). We are united and our government is stable. We have counted the numbers and there is no threat to the government (in Madhya Pradesh)."