As RS polls near, fever to destabilise state govts rises: Ghulam Nabi Azad

The "fever" to destabilise a state government rises when Rajya Sabha elections are due, the Congress said on Thursday, accusing the BJP of abducting 14 of its MLAs in Madhya Pradesh.

Three Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant in the state and they are currently held by Digvijaya Singh (Congress), Satyanarayan Jatiya and Prabhat Jha (both from BJP).

"Ever since the BJP has come to power at the national level, the democracy of the country is being finished in every state one by one. It started with Arunachal Pradesh," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told a press conference.

The BJP's policy has always been to ensure that states do not get any government except that of the party, he said.

"Where ever other parties have made governments, their (BJP's) aim has been to destabilise them. This fever to destabilise state governments rises when the Rajya Sabha elections are due," Azad said.

The efforts in Madhya Pradesh to break the government is not new, "we condemn it, we will raise it in Parliament", he said.

"We have never done politics of this kind where we scare and intimidate people to join us," he said.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that the BJP "abducted 14 MLAs".

"Eleven mafias have been identified and are being reigned in by the Congress. They had been active for 15 years. Vyapam scam was unravelling. So this is a conspiracy to bring the Madjya Pradesh government down," he said.

"Who paid for the charter plane to abduct the MLAs? Who paid for the five star hotels?," Surjewala asked.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "Sinister design of BJP in breaking state governments, they have hatched a plan to dig the grave of democracy in the country."

"By doing this heinous activity they want to destabilise the Congress regime. They are putting pressure on Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh by adopting a carrot and stick policy," he said.

Chowdhury urged all opposition parties to unite against the "authoritarian" government.