Hyderabad: The political somersaults of 'netas' are not new in India. This trend now shifts to Madhya Pradesh and the Congress government in the state is likely to topple with ‘Maharaja’ giving a jolt to age-old party.
History repeats itself after 53 years as the Kamal Nath-led government is on the brink of collapse, as one of its senior leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia on March 10 resigned from the party along with 22 Congress MLAs, giving a befitting reply to the Congress veteran leader Digvijay Singh.
Back in 1967, Guna royal’s grandmother Vijayaraje Scindia resigned from the Congress and contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate giving a tough tiff to then Chief Minister DP Mishra.
Her exit resulted in the collapse of the Mishra-led Congress government, following which Govind Narayan Singh became the CM of a coalition government.
Following her footsteps, Vijayaraje's grandson and Madhavrao Scindia's son Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2020, resigned from the party and took 22 MLAs with him, as soon as the resignation of all 22 MLAs is accepted, the ruling party will lose its majority.
Amidst this high political drama, one question is bound to arise that how did this happen? Was it spontaneous or pre-planned? A veteran leader of Delhi politics, Kamal Nath was brought to the throne after 15 years of incumbent ruling of Shivraj Singh Chauhan--led BJP government came to an end.
But the current scenario reveals that the nine-time MP from Chhindwara, Kamal Nath could not handle the politics of Madhya Pradesh.
As sources say that Kamal Nath was so dependent on Digvijay Singh that he sidelined all the other party leaders.
Continuing Vijayaraje's footsteps, Jyotiraditya’s father Madhavrao Scindia entered politics and won his first Guna seat, on the Jan Sangh ticket in 1971. Later, with differing family ideologies, Madhavrao left his mother's Jan Sangh party and joined Congress.
Madhavrao defeated Atal Bihari Vajpayee when in 1984, Congress fielded him from MP's Gwalior. He was a senior Congress leader but his revolt against the party began in 1993 when he lost the CM’s post to senior party leader Digvijaya Singh. He left the party but again rejoined the party.
Jyotiraditya continued in his footsteps, winning the Guna bypoll following his father’s demise in a plane crash in 2001.
The three-time Lok Sabha winner was given huge responsibilities by the top Congress brass during the assembly election campaign, once in 2013 and again in 2018.
After Congress returned to power in 2018, Scindia was seen as a tough competitor of Kamal Nath.
However, MLAs elected Kamal Nath as their leader and disappointing Scindia.
After losing his first Lok Sabha election from his traditional Guna parliamentary seat, Scindia sidelined himself from active politics and was left with no choice but to concentrate on MP.
With Digvijay's constant intervention in the Ministry of the state, it became difficult for Scindia to secure his position as PCC Chief.
Facing obstacles back and forth, Scindia could not even become a chief minister when he had the option of going to the Rajya Sabha. Neither CM nor state president, now Scindia had to do something to save his existence.
From giving a warning of agitation that if the state government failed to meet the demands of protesting guest teachers to flying away with 19 MLAs to Bengaluru, Scindia's bolder steps changed the entire political scenario in the state.
Scindia's outrage was escalated when instead of resolving differences with him, Kamal Nath accused the Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP) of toppling and destabilising the government.
When even Rahul and Priyanka's advocacy failed in Sonia Gandhi's court, Scindia gave his resignation after meeting Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Interestingly, his resignation was dated March 9 and even Congress immediately announced his removal, giving the reason for him being involved in 'anti-party activities'.
After all this, Scindia has not accepted the membership of BJP which hints that he has kept a small path open for Congress for settlement.
But Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath seems to be least bothered about it and are not making attempts to save the Cabinet.
History has never failed to amaze us. During the political crisis in 1967, Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia was backed up Jan Sangh and now the new form of Sangh 'BJP' has extended its support to Scindia.
Digvijay Singh has alleged that BJP had provided three chartered aircraft, however NDA govt denies it.
On one hand, BJP leader Bhupendra Singh has handed over the resignation of angry Congress MLAs to the Speaker whereas, on the other side, former minister Umashankar Gupta and BJP state vice president Arvind Bhadoria are busy wooing the Congress MLAs in Bengaluru.
Instances from the past revealed that BJP played a key role when MLAs of BSP and SP went missing. In the past, videos of former BJP minister Narottam Mishra trying to allure Congress MLAs into the BJP also went viral on social media. BJP was continuously preparing to topple the Congress govt since its formation.
On the other hand, Congress is trying its level best to save its government while BJP is planning to rule in the state.
Instances reveal that Congress will lose its majority. Adding to the mystery, Bhupendra Singh has claimed that al least 40 Congress MLAs are rebelling and if it turns out to be true, it will take a heavy toll on all the damage control practices of the Congress. From Assembly speaker to the Governor's side, history will repeat itself after 53 years.
Now the question arises what will happen to Scindia? Will he get a position in the Central Ministry? Or leaders following Scindia in BJP will be adjusted in the new government? Or the past repeat itself as to what happened to the electoral defectors in the BJP.
The ruling party can benefit from Scindia's royal family and close ties with their princely states.
There are high chances that Kamal Nath's govt to fall and Digvijay Singh can face exile.
On Singh's recommendation, Kamal Nath in his Cabinet took junior MLAs like Jaivardhan Singh(son of Digvijay Singh), Jitu Patwari and Honey Beghel removing senior Congress leaders who have won their respective constituency multiple times, which includes leaders like Bisahulal Singh, Endal Singh Kansana and KP Singh to name a few.
After getting the title, these young MLAs did not follow the routine as earlier leaders used to, which caused trouble at the party. Congress's allies BSP, SP, and others saw the critical situation of the party and wanted to talk about it. But, since neither PCC president nor does any senior leaders were present to hear their problems, taking advantage of it, BJP used the opportunity just like they did in Karnataka, playing the game of resignations.
