MP govt's survival difficult after Scindia's exit, concedes Congress leader

Soon after Jyotiraditya Scindia stepped down from Congress amid political turmoil in Madhya Pradesh, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary on Tuesday termed it "a big loss for the party".

Speaking to ANI, Chaudhary also claimed that Scindia could have been lured by the offer of ministership given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Scindia ji held many senior posts in Congress party and was well respected, maybe he got lured by the offer of ministership given by Modi ji. We know his family has been associated with the BJP for decades, but yet it is a big loss," said the Congress Lok Sabha MP.

He also asserted that it will be difficult for Congress to survive in Madhya Pradesh.

"So, yes it will indeed be a loss to our party and I do not think our government in Madhya Pradesh will survive. This is the present-day politics of BJP, which always tries to topple and destabilise Opposition governments," he said.

Scindia, who has served Congress for 18 years, resigned from the party on Tuesday, stating that "it is time to move on."

The resignation comes hours after Congress MLAs loyal to Scindia indicated that they may pull out from the Kamal Nath-led government and their mobile phones were found switched off on Monday.

Jyotiraditya Scindia's office staff were seen leaving after handing over a hard copy of his resignation at Sonia Gandhi's residence. Immediately after, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi approved the expulsion of Scindia for "anti-party activities".

Following Scindia's resignation, 19 Congress MLAs, including six state ministers from Madhya Pradesh, who are in Bengaluru today also tendered their resignation from the Assembly.

In a late-night Cabinet meeting, around 20 Cabinet ministers in Madhya Pradesh tendered their resignation to Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The Chief Minister has accepted their resignations and is likely to reconstitute the cabinet.

Earlier, several Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh, had accused the BJP of horse-trading and conspiring to bring down the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

Congress has been witnessing an internal turf war in Madhya Pradesh since the party formed a government in the state.