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Bengaluru: Nineteen Congress MLAs of Madhya Pradesh, including six ministers of the Kamal Nath government, are in Karnataka capital Bengaluru Monday amid talk of a possible poaching bid by the BJP, ThePrint has learnt.

While 17 were flown in Monday, some have been there since earlier this month, when the Congress reportedly barely survived another poaching attempt.

Highly-placed Congress sources identified the six Madhya Pradesh ministers as Tulsiram Silawat, Govind Singh Rajput, Pradhyumna Singh Tomar, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Prabhuram Choudhry and Imarti Devi. According to sources in the BJP, the leaders are in the “safekeeping” of a senior party leader.

The alleged escape of Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh comes amid widespread resentment among supporters of former MP Jyotiraditya Scindia over what they see as the party’s failure to give him his due.

Scindia, one of the party’s young guns, was seen as the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post ahead of the 2018 assembly elections, but the Congress went ahead with Nath, a veteran. Scindia’s supporters are also said to be miffed about having been given a raw deal in portfolio allocation in the state government.

The purported escape bid comes days after the Congress was seen as having saved its Madhya Pradesh government by a whisker, as eight MLAs reportedly flown to Gurugram by the BJP were “retrieved”. A few others, believed to have been flown to Karnataka, could not be traced at the time.

While the Karnataka BJP has denied any role in the new crisis for the Congress, sources in the party said they could not let go of an opportunity where the Kamal Nath government had lost its majority.

The Madhya Pradesh assembly has a total of 228 seats, of which two are vacant owing to the incumbents’ death. The Congress has 114 legislators, and enjoys the support of two Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs and one from the Samajwadi Party.

The BJP, meanwhile, has 107 legislators and needs six more to cross the halfway mark of 115. The rest are Independents.

Also Read: Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot have one way to survive politically — by leaving Congress

‘Until the dust settles’

All the legislators flown to Bengaluru are known to be loyalists of Scindia. The entire group is being kept at safe houses in the Whitefield/Marathahalli areas of Bengaluru, where they are expected to be “taken care of” until the dust settles, a local BJP source said.

ThePrint has managed to confirm that BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali, who represents Mahadevapura, is hosting them

Speaking to ThePrint, sources in the BJP said they couldn’t give up the opportunity of toppling the Kamal Nath government.

“We don’t need to do anything,” said one of them. “Just like the short-lived coalition between the JD(S) and the Congress in Karnataka… fell apart like a pack of cards, the situation is similar in MP,” the source added.

“If the BJP can’t form the government, it would turn out to be a wasted opportunity.”

A Rajya Sabha seat for Scindia

The twin escape attempts of MLAs also come days before the state’s legislators vote for three Madhya Pradesh seats in the Rajya Sabha that go vacant in April.

Two of the seats are currently held by the BJP and one by the Congress (former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh).

In this light, some observers see the legislators’ antics as trying to exert pressure on the Kamal Nath government.

Scindia faced an embarrassing loss in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, losing his family pocketborough of Guna. Since then, there has been mounting pressure from his loyalists to nominate him to the Rajya Sabha, polling for which is scheduled for 26 March.

Two days ago, Madhya Pradesh Labour Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, one of the MLAs in Bengaluru, issued a video statement to the media where he said the ruling dispensation would face a grave crisis if it “neglects or disrespects” Scindia.

“I can definitely say that Kamal Nathji’s government may face a crisis if our leader Jyotiraditya Scindia is neglected and disrespected. Black clouds will certainly descend on the Madhya Pradesh government,” Sisodiya said in the video.

ThePrint tried to approach Scindia for comment but he did not respond to calls.

Kamal Nath, who has proved his majority four times on the floor of the House, claimed Monday that his government was safe.

Also Read: Not Rahul’s cheerleader nor Priyanka’s fall guy – Jyotiraditya Scindia wants a piece of Delhi

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