BHOPAL: Chief Minister and Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Kamal Nath met Congress national president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Friday amid rising demand by Jyotiraditya Scindia supporters to appoint their leader as the next state party chief.
Nath’s meeting with the AICC president took place in the national capital amid unconfirmed reports about Scindia having given an ultimatum to the party to appoint him as the MPCC chief, failing which he would have to “look for other options”.
“I don’t think he (Scindia) is unhappy. Several issues were discussed with the party’s national president today. Since I have been the party’s national general secretary in the past, the discussion also covered the party’s organization in various other states, including Madhya Pradesh,” Nath told journalists after the meeting.
When queried about his successor in MPCC, Nath said, “I’ve been saying it since six months that there should be a new state Congress chief in MP and had reiterated it after the Lok Sabha polls also”.
“I’m ready to work with anyone appointed as new state Congress chief,” he added.
Informed sources within the party confided to this newspaper that new MPCC chief, as well as new general secretary in-charge for the state, could be announced by the party’s central leaders in the next few days.
In Bhopal, a group of Scindia supporters led by acting Bhopal district party president Krishna Ghatge protested outside the MP Congress Committee HQ demanding that Scindia be appointed the state Congress chief, failing which thousands of party workers will quit the party.
Speculation about Scindia’s resentment has been fueled by his recent comments in support of the Narendra Modi government’s decision to end special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370. Scindia’s comments ruffled a few feathers in the Congress camp.