Madhya Pradesh crisis: Scindia likely to arrive in Bhopal before floor test

Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose move of quitting the Congress has pushed the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh to the brink, is likely arrive in Bhopal on Sunday night or early Monday, a leader said.

The rebel Congress MLAs, who have been camping in Bengaluru, are also scheduled to return to the Madhya Pradesh capital by Sunday night, sources said.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had late Saturday night directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, the first day of the budget session.

"Scindia ji is scheduled to arrive Bhopal on Sunday night or early on Monday morning," said Pankaj Chaturvedi, a close confidante of Scindia.

However, he did not reveal anything about Scindia's plans after arriving in the city.

Scindia had gone to Delhi on Friday after filing his nomination paper for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election as a BJP candidate.

Sources said that on his arrival, Scindia would meet his loyalist MLAs, who resigned from the state assembly and Congress after he left the grand old party.

These rebel Congress MLAs are likely to reach Bhopal on Sunday night or early Monday morning from Bengaluru, they said.

Meanwhile, BJP MLAs, who have been staying at a resort at Gurugram (Haryana), are also likely to return to Bhopal by Sunday night or early Monday morning, party sources said.

On Saturday evening, the Speaker N P Prajapati had accepted the resignations of six Scindia loyalist MLAs, who were ministers in the Kamal Nath cabinet.

On the other hand, Governor Lalji Tandon directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath late Saturday night to seek a trust vote in the assembly soon after his (governor) address on March 16.

Congress MLAs, who had been camping in Jaipur since Wednesday, returned to Bhopal on Sunday morning. They were taken to Hotel Courtyard Marriot in MP Nagar locality, about a km away from the state assembly complext and the state secretariat.

Twenty-two Congress MLAs loyal to Scindia had resigned on Tuesday, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government into a crisis.