Several MLAs loyal to Kamal Nath reach Delhi amid talk of switch to BJP

Bhopal: Around half a dozen Madhya Pradesh MLAs loyal to senior Congress leader Kamal Nath reached Delhi on Sunday amid speculation that he and his MP son Nakul Nath are set to join the ruling BJP.

Three of these MLAs are from Chhindwara, while another three from the region are set to leave for Delhi, sources close to the veteran leader said.

Nath, a nine-time MP from Chhindwara and currently MLA from the seat, is a former chief minister who was removed as the party's state president following the Congress' dismal performance in the November Assembly polls.

These MLAs were not answering calls, with some Congress insiders claiming Nath loyalist and former state minister Lakhan Ghangoriya was also camping with them in Delhi.

Deepak Saxena, former MP minister and Nath loyalist told reporters in Chhindwara he was hurt by the way the latter was removed as state unit chief following the Assembly debacle.

"We want our leader to be accorded all respect. Whatever decision he takes, we will be with him," Saxena said.

Another Nath loyalist, former state minister Vikram Verma, wrote "Jai Shri Ram" in his X profile.

"I will follow Kamal Nath," Verma, a former MP, had told reporters on Saturday.

Efforts were on by the Nath camp to get the support of 23 MLAs so that anti-defection laws don't apply to them, party insiders claimed. The Congress has 66 seats in the 230-member Assembly.

"In case one-third of the MLAs switch over, then anti-defection laws will not apply," MP High Court advocate Rakesh Pandey told PTI.

Incidentally, in March 2020, another senior leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and several MLAs loyal to him had switched over to the BJP, which brought down the Congress government led by Nath.