Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has plunged into crisis after at least 17 ruling party MLAs have gone incommunicado.

The missing MLAs, which include five ministers, are all backers of former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia. Sources said, they have been taken to Bengaluru.

The development comes hours after Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to apprise her about the situation in the state. The Chief Minister called a late-night cabinet meeting where around 20 ministers resigned reposing faith in his leadership. Out of a total of 28 ministers, 20 were present at the cabinet meeting, besides the chief minister.

MP Forest Minister Umang Singhar said they have requested the chief minister to reconstitute the cabinet, in an apparent move to quell dissent in the party. Meanwhile, BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs Tuesday evening where Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be elected as the leader of the legislature party.

While the Congress has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly. Four Independent, two BSP and one Samajwadi Party MLAs are supporting the Congress-led state government. Two assembly seats are vacant following the demise of a Congress and a BJP legislator. The budget session of the state Assembly will begin on the 16th of this month, while Rajya Sabha polls for three seats from Madhya Pradesh are scheduled on March 26.