After BJP’s third RS pick, Cong to move MP MLAs out to K’taka or T’gana

Bhopal: The BJP’s decision to field a third candidate from Madhya Pradesh not only added a layer of intrigue to the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls across 10 states, but also triggered intense political manoeuvring within the Congress, leaving it grappling with the challenge of keeping its flock together and prevent cross-voting at a time when it had hoped for its sole candidate, Meenakshi Natarajan, to be elected unopposed.

Initial reports and media chatter had indicated that the BJP wasn’t likely to field a third candidate from MP, thus enabling the Congress to send its nominee to the Upper House without a contest. However, the change of plan by the BJP has upset all calculations in the rival camp.

Party insiders said the MLAs will be shifted on Tuesday, though the final location is yet to be decided by the Congress national leadership. Sources indicated Karnataka and Telangana — both Congress-ruled states — are among the possible destinations.

Speaking to media persons, former Congress state president Kantilal Bhuria alleged that the BJP was indulging in horse trading by offering Rs 5 crore to 10 crore each to their MLAs to vote for the BJP candidate.

“However, we remain confident that our MLAs wouldn’t fall for such offers and stand united behind our nominee,” Bhuria told TOI.

Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh, too, asserted that its flock was intact.

The BJP, with 164 MLAs in the 230-member MP Assembly, is comfortably placed to secure two Rajya Sabha seats. However, it may have to look elsewhere for surplus votes to push the candidature of its third candidate, Mahesh Kewat, chairman of the MP Machhua Kalyan Board. Each candidate requires 58 votes to secure passage to the Rajya Sabha.

Though the Congress officially has 63 MLA votes, the membership of Bina MLA Nirmala Sapre remains sub judice after the party sought her disqualification over allegations of siding with the BJP.

Stirring the political pot further, Sapre met CM Mohan Yadav at his residence on Monday, according to highly placed sources.

With the matter pending in court after no action yet from the Speaker despite representations by LoP Umang Singhar, Congress leaders have privately conceded that its effective strength in the House could become crucial in the event of cross-voting or abstention.

Besides Sapre, two more Congress legislators — Mukesh Malhotra and Rajendra Bharti — were disqualified following their conviction in separate criminal cases.

While the Supreme Court has since reinstated Malhotra’s membership after the Congress challenged his disqualification by the Speaker, it did set a rider that he will not have a voting right till the final verdict in the matter is pronounced.

Thus, the pickle now leaves the Congress with 62 votes in the House.

Adding to the suspense, several BJP leaders publicly claimed that 10-15 Congress MLAs were in touch with the saffron party. BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal on Monday said Congress was “confused and under pressure”, while CM Yadav asserted that BJP would win all three seats.

“Every party contests to win. The BJP will continue its victory run by winning all three Rajya Sabha seats,” Yadav said after Kewat filed his nomination.

The Congress, meanwhile, put up a show of unity during Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination filing, with available MLAs present. Later in the evening, former CM Digvijaya Singh held one-on-one discussions with MLAs at the party’s state headquarters to assess whether any of them had been approached by BJP leaders.

Sources said some Congress legislators have already been informally advised to keep essential medicines and personal items ready in case the party decides to move them out of the state before polling. A dinner meeting of Congress MLAs convened at LoP Umang Singhar’s residence on Monday night was expected to deliberate on the strategy further in consultation with the party’s national leadership.

Congress state chief Jitu Patwari accused BJP of attempting to “murder democracy” by fielding a third candidate despite lacking the numbers, but insisted all Congress MLAs were united behind Natarajan.