NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday refuted reports of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath quitting the grand old party and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) adding that the "rumours" were a "conspiracy".
"The rumours that Kamal Nath going to BJP, this is an example of how media can be misused. This was a conspiracy made against Kamal Nath. I spoke to him and he said that all these things are just rumours," Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said.
"I spoke to him and he said that all these things are just rumours, and he is a Congress person and will continue to be a Congress person. He will continue to have Congress ideology till his last breath. This is his own thoughts," he added.
Political circles were abuzz on Saturday amid speculations that Congress veteran Kamal Nath may jump ship to BJP during his visit to the national capital.
Nath's son Nakul Nath, who is the only Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh, has dropped Congress from his social media bio, further fuelling rumours of a potential switch by the father-son duo.
Separately, in Indore, Kamal Nath's staunch supporter and former minister Sajjan Singh Verma also removed Congress from his social media bio.
Earlier today, a group of Madhya Pradesh MLAs who support senior Congress leader Kamal Nath arrived in Delhi, sparking speculation that Nath and his son Nakul Nath are planning to join the ruling BJP along with enough state legislators to avoid the anti-defection law.
Nath, a nine-time MP from Chhindwara and the current MLA, was removed as the state president of the Congress after the party's poor performance in the November assembly elections.