Congress MLA Hardip Singh Dang resigns from Vidhan Sabha; Kamal Nath government in trouble
BHOPAL: In a sudden political development in Madhya Pradesh, which is bound to jolt the ruling Congress, the party MLA from Suvasra seat of Mandsaur district Hardip Singh Dang resigned from the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday evening.
Dang, the second-time Congress MLA is among the three Congress MLAs and an independent MLA, who was allegedly taken to Bengaluru by BJP leaders as part of attempts to topple the Kamal Nath government in the central Indian state on Wednesday.
Also, in another related development, the son of another Congress MLA and ex-minister Bisahu Lal Singh (who was allegedly taken to Bengaluru) had lodged a missing person complaint at the TT Nagar police station about the Anuppur MLA missing since March 2, after he left for Raipur.
Dang, who is the lone Congress MLA from Mandsaur Lok Sabha seat, has addressed his resignation to the Vidhan Sabha Speaker, key official sources confirmed to The New Indian Express.
The lone Sikh MLA in the 230-member Vidhan Sabha, the Suvasra MLA is seen to be a close confidant of former Mandsaur MP Meenakshi Natrajan, who is close to former Congress national president Rahul Gandhi.
In the resignation, Dang has mentioned about him and his assembly constituency’s concerns being repeatedly ignored despite a Congress government being in the state since 14 months.
“None of the ministers in our government are helping in works related to my constituency as well as the implementation of different government schemes in my constituency. Despite being the lone Congress MLA from entire Ujjain division in 2013 polls and presently the lone Congress MLA from Mandsaur Lok Sabha seat, neither was I made a minister nor rightful honour as MLA was ever given to me. Even arrangements have never been made for my accommodation during my stays in Bhopal,” wrote Dang in the resignation.
“My only fault seems to be that I only belong to the Congress and not to any of the factions led by CM Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh or Jyotiraditya Scindia. I’ve been raising my concerns with CM Kamal Nath, ex-CM Digvijaya Singh and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, but no one has addressed my concerns,” he wrote further.
Senior Congress leader Narendra Saluja (also the media coordinator to CM Kamal Nath), when contacted over the issue, said, as per the Vidhan Sabha Speaker NP Prajapati, “he (the Speaker) has heard about the Suvasra MLA resigning from the Assembly membership. But he (Dang) is yet to personally submit his resignation to me (Speaker). Only when he submits his resignation to me personally, will I act on it in accordance with law.”
According to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, “I’ve heard about Hardip Singh Dang’s resignation, but haven’t received any letter about it. Till the time I meet him in person, commenting over the issue won’t be right.”
Importantly, Congress MLA’s resignation triggered celebrations by BJP workers in Mandsaur district on Thursday evening.
In a related development, the Tej Bhan Singh, who is the son of former minister and Congress MLA from Anuppur seat Bisahu Lal Singh, lodged a complaint at Bhopal’s TT Nagar police station on Thursday, about his MLA father missing since March 2.
In the complaint, the MLA’s son mentioned that his father had left for Raipur on March 2, but since then is untraceable and his cell-phone too is sounding switched off.
Importantly, both Bisahu Lal Singh and Hardip Singh Dang are among the four MLAs (three Congress and one independent MLA) who as per Congress leaders, including ex-CM Digvijaya Singh were taken by BJP leaders on Tuesday to a hotel in Gurugram and then forcefully sent to Bengaluru by a chartered plane on Wednesday morning.
Ex-CM Digvijaya Singh had alleged on Wednesday that the four MLAs were forcefully made to embark a 12-seater chartered plane in Gurugram on Wednesday morning by BJP leaders and sent to Bengaluru after snatching their cell-phones as part of the BJP’s plan to topple Kamal Nath government.
Meanwhile, the only independent MLA Surendra Singh ‘Shera Bhaiya’ who allegedly was sent in the chartered plane to Bengaluru, told The New Indian Express over phone on Thursday evening that “he has gone to Bengaluru for medical treatment of his daughter and will return to his native Burhanpur within a day or two after offering prayers at Tirupati Balaji Temple.”