Madhya Pradesh Crisis: Will Jyotiraditya Scindia join BJP?

Bhopal, Mar 10: Amid allegations of poaching, infighting in the Madhya Pradesh Congress, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and at least 17 MLAs who are believed to be supporting him suddenly became 'incommunicado' on Monday.

The curious political development has led to speculations that Scindia is planning to leave the Congress and join the BJP and take some of the MLAs with him.

Reportedly, the BJP will make attempts to form government formation if the Congress government in the state collapses but has maintained that they will not offer Jyotiraditya Scindia the post of chief minister.

BJP leader Narottam Mishra on being asked if BJP will welcome Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia into the party: "Everyone is heartily welcome in Bharatiya Janata Party. We induct even grassroot-level workers, Scindia ji is a very big leader, he is definitely welcome."

BJP leaders meet Amit Shah

Meanwhile, eyeing on an opportunity to dislodge the Kamal Nath, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday night.

Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was also present at the meeting, which began at 9.30 p.m. and continued till 11 p.m. It was decided that BJP Vice President and Madhya Pradesh in charge Vinay Sahasrabuddhe will be sent to Bhopal on Tuesday.

The 15-month-old Madhya Pradesh government plunged into crisis on Monday with the shock rebellion of Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia and his faction.

The development comes at a time when the ruling party accusing the BJP of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government.

Scindia sidelined by Congress?

Despite his efforts to bring his party to power in the 2018 state polls, he could get the support of only 23 MLAs. The Congress top brass picked Kamal Nath for his experience, and indicated that Scindia's time would come.

After the LS defeat, Jyotiraditya felt sidelined by the state and his meeting with ex ­CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan in January last year sparked a buzz. However, both termed it a "courtesy meet".

In another development that would raise eyebrows, Scindia dropped all references to his official posts in Congress from his Twitter bio and called himself a 'public servant and sports enthusiast'.

Will Scindia fulfil Vijayaraje's dream of joining BJP?

Jyotiraditya is the last scion of the Scindia family of Marathas which ruled the Gwalior state in pre-independent central-India.

His grandmother Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia was once a prominent figure in the Jana Sangh.

Following his mother, Madhavrao also joined the Jana Sangh. In 1971 Lok Sabha elections, the mother-son duo was among the few leaders who defied the Indira Gandhi wave and emerged victorious from their respective constituencies.

In 1980, he joined Indira Gandhis Congress, a party which had jailed his mother during the Emergency-era. His sisters, Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje later followed their mothers footsteps and joined the BJP.

The number game

The House has 230 members. However the current strength has been reduced to 228. The Congress had gone on to form the government with the support of 121 MLAs, which included four independents, 2 BSP and 1 SP MLA.

If the 17 MLAs stick to their decision then the strength of the Congress would come down to 104. In the 228 member House, a party needs 115 seats.

The BJP on the other hand has 107 MLAs. It needs 8 more MLAs to hit the majority mark. If the rebels extend support to the BJP, then the party will have 124 MLAs.