New Delhi:The Congress claimed that it was on a comeback trail in Madhya Pradesh and cited the joining of over 40 senior BJP leaders over the past six months as an indicator. Elections for the 230 Assembly seats in MP will take place later this year.
“The joint opposition rally in Bhopal will send out a strong message to the Madhya Pradesh voters. It will certainly help the Congress, which is on a strong wicket,” AICC secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh CP Mittal told ETV Bharat. “There is chaos in the state BJP, which has sensed its defeat. Therefore, BJP leaders are rushing to join the Congress. Over 40 BJP leaders joined the Congress over the past six months and many more are likely to join. Soon, you will see some sitting BJP MLAs also joining us,” disclosed Mittal.
Among the 40 leaders, who quit the BJP recently include several ex-MLAs and ministers. Two former BJP ministers, Deepak Joshi, the son of former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi, and Radheylal Baghel joined the Congress in May. Later, Jyotiraditya Scindia’s close aide Baijnath Singh Yadav joined the Congress. Recently, ex-MLA from Narmadapuram Girija Shankar Sharma joined the Congress.
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The AICC functionary reminded that a similar trend was witnessed in Himachal Pradesh and in Karnataka where the BJP leaders had sensed the defeat of the saffron party and joined the Congress ahead of the Assembly polls. “The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has not done anything for the past 18 years and the voters are upset with them. The BJP's top leadership has sensed this and therefore PM Modi had to visit the Sagar district twice over the past few months. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also making frequent visits to the state. They are trying to do damage control, but it is, too, late now,” said Mittal.
Besides listing the benefits from the Bhopal joint opposition rally, likely in the first week of October, the Congress insiders said that a spirit of give and take was also showing among the alliance partners Congress and Samajwadi Party in the poll-bound state. According to sources, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had campaigned extensively across the Bundelkhand region in 2018 and his party had won the lone Bijawar Assembly seat and was second on six seats. Hence, the SP is now asking to contest seven seats in the region. Though the seat-sharing within the INDIA block is mostly for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress is looking into the SP’s demand and may accommodate the ally on a few seats.
“There are several ways this issue can be addressed. The SP can contest a few seats, or it may contest on our poll symbol or there may be an arrangement that the SP supports our candidates in Madhya Pradesh and we support their candidates in some other state. In politics, all options are always open, but the final decision will be taken by the high command. It is beyond me,” said Mittal.
