The Congress is weighing a plan to shift its Madhya Pradesh MLAs to a Congress-ruled state, likely Karnataka or Telangana, amid fears of cross-voting after the BJP sprang a surprise by fielding a third candidate for the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections, sources said on Monday.
The move is aimed at keeping the party’s legislators together as the contest for the third Rajya Sabha seat heats up.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, which forms the electoral college for the Rajya Sabha polls, the effective strength currently stands at 229. A candidate requires 58 first-preference votes to secure victory.
The ruling BJP, with 164 MLAs, is comfortably placed to win two seats and has fielded party national general secretary Tarun Chugh and state unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal.
The contest took an unexpected turn on Monday when the BJP nominated Mahesh Kewat, chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Fishermen Welfare Board, as its third candidate on the final day of filing nominations.
Party insiders said the BJP kept its plans under wraps for days and decided on Kewat’s candidature after consultations with the central leadership.
The Congress has fielded former MP Meenakshi Natarajan and remains optimistic about securing enough support for her victory despite the BJP’s new entrant complicating the arithmetic.
Late Monday, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) met at the residence of Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar to discuss the possibility of relocating MLAs outside the state.
The legislators were consulted on the proposal to move them out of Madhya Pradesh until polling, an aide to the LoP told PTI.
The proposal, sources said, followed a suggestion from the party’s central leadership.
Around 60 MLAs attended the meeting, according to a source close to Singhar. One MLA skipped the meeting as he was in Delhi, while senior leader Kamal Nath joined virtually.
"The opinion of the legislators was sought after consultations with the party's central leadership. A final decision on the destination, possibly Bengaluru in Karnataka, is expected shortly," the source said.
If cleared by the Congress high command, MLAs could be moved out of the state as early as Tuesday, sources added.
The party’s cautious approach is being viewed against the backdrop of the 2020 political crisis, when resignations by MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia toppled the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state.
The Congress currently has 64 MLAs in the assembly, though one legislator cannot vote following a Supreme Court order. Sagar MLA Nirmala Sapre, who has recently shared the stage with BJP leaders, has also stayed away from CLP meetings.
For the BJP to win the third seat, it would still require eight additional votes to cross the 58-vote mark, even if it secures support from Sapre and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MLA Kamlesh Dodiyar. Sapre was seen near the chief minister’s residence on Monday.
(With inputs from PTI)