Madhya Pradesh Crisis: Scindia, accompanied by Amit Shah, meets PM Modi

New Delhi, Mar 10: In a big development, Congress leader and Kamal Nath's rival Jyotiraditya Scindia met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence, amid indications that he may join hands with the BJP to topple the Madhya Pradesh government.

Reportedly, Jyotiraditya Scindia is accompanied by Home Minister and former BJP chief Amit Shah.

Legislators loyal to Scindia, who has been upset with the Congress leadership with his marginalisation in the affairs of the Madhya Pradesh Congress, are likely to quit the party to reduce the Kamal Nath-led government to a minority.

Earlier, BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said his party was not interested in toppling the government and termed the developments as the "internal matter" of the ruling party.

However, former minister and BJP leader Narottam Mishra said it seems the Kamal Nath government is falling.

Meanwhile, PTI reports, quoting Congress sources, that Jyotiraditya Scindia's party is working to woo him back.

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh plunged into a crisis as a sulking Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 17 MLAs, virtually revolted prompting Chief Minister Kamal Nath to call a late-night cabinet meeting where around 20 ministers resigned.

The number game

Currently, there are 228 MLAs in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly. With 228 seats, a party needs to have 115 seats to form government in the state.

However, the state Congress is one short of the majority mark, with 114 seats in its fold. But, Kamal Nath's government is supported by one Samajwadi Party MLA and two legislators of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

With 17 MLAs resignation, the majority mark in the assembly will come down to 106, paving way for the BJP that has 107 seats in its fold, amd would stake claim to form the government.