MP crisis highlights: BJP welcomes Scindia with Rajya Sabha ticket

A day after announcing his resignation from the Congress, Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday in presence of the ruling party's president JP Nadda

Disgruntled Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday joined the BJP in presence of the ruling party's president JP Nadda. The BJP has named Scindia as one of its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh and is also confident of forming the government in the state with his help as 22 MLAs including Scindia's supporters have resigned from the state assembly reducing the Kamal Nath government to a minority, PTI reported.

The 15-month-old Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh is tottering on the brink of a collapse.

Scindia jumped the Congress ship on Tuesday. In his resignation letter, dated March 9 and tendered to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on March 10, Scindia said: "It is now time for me to move on". He was unable to "serve the people of the country while remaining in the party", he wrote. A shell-shocked Congress, in a largely inconsequential move, expelled him after this. Scindia's exit split the grand old party in the state, with several leaders expressing their dissent.

ALSO READ: Jyotiraditya Scindia makes a 'fresh start', quits Congress to join BJP
 

How the numbers stack up: Congress has a wafer-thin majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly whose current effective strength is 228. If the resignations of 22 or more MLAs is accepted, the strength of the Assembly will fall to 206 or less. The magic number for retaining the majority then will be 103. The Congress will be left with 92 seats and the BJP 109 seats.

3:02 AM

Scindia to file nomination for Rajya Sabha polls on March 13

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP on Wednesday, will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 13. Scindia is slated to arrive in Bhopal on March 12 (Thursday). Read more

11:33 PM

Jyotiraditya was one person who could walk into my house anytime: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Jyotiraditya Scindia was one person who could walk into his house anytime, dismissing suggestions that the party's top leadership was not giving him a hearing. "He was one guy in the Congress who could walk into my house anytime, as he was in with me in college," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament. He later retweeted a photo of his with Scindia and Kamal Nath after the Madhya Pradesh assembly victory, with a caption of Leo Tolstoy's quote "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time".

11:33 PM

22 MLAs resigned on their own; no pressure, say 6 MP ministers

Six rebel ministers in Madhya Pradesh, who resigned from the assembly in support of Jyotiraditya Scindia, have said that they have done so on their own accord and not under duress. In separate video messages that are doing rounds in social media, these ministers also dismissed claims that they were in touch with the Kamal Nath government.

11:32 PM

There is anger against Cong leadership in every state: Rupani

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday blamed Congress leadership for the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh and said there is anger against the party's leadership in every state. In Gujarat also the situation is such that Congress groups are fighting for change in leadership here, he said and welcomed former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's decision to join the BJP.

9:28 PM

Wish things could have been resolved within party: Sachin Pilot on Scindia's exit

On a day Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP, Rajasthan Congress chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot termed the development unfortunate, saying he wished things could have been fixed within the party "collaboratively". "Unfortunate to see @JM_Scindia parting ways with @INCIndia. I wish things could have been resolved collaboratively within the party," Pilot said in a tweet on Wednesday.

8:54 PM

7:28 PM

10,000 Cong office-bearers quit party after Scindia: MP leader

After Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress, around 10,000 of its office-bearers have resigned from the party in Madhya Pradesh and several more are likely to do so, a former leader of the grand old party claimed on Wednesday. The ruling Congress, however, refuted this claim and said the supporters of Scindia were creating pressure on other leaders to leave the party. Scindia quit the Congress on Tuesday and joined the BJP in the presence of party chief J P Nadda in Delhi on Wednesday. "About 10,000 office-bearers of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh- from state-level to block-level, including some district presidents, have resigned from the Congress since Tuesday morning owing their allegiance to Scindia ji," former state Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi, who also quit the party along with Scindia, told PTI on Wednesday.

6:35 PM

BJP names Scindia as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh

The BJP on Wednesday named Jyotiraditya Scindia as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh soon after he joined the party. Scinida quit the Congress on Tuesday. He is an influential leader of Madhya Pradesh where 22 Congress MLAs, most of whom loyal to him, have resigned from the assembly in a bid to topple the Kamal Nath-led government. The BJP announced the names of its nine Rajya Sabha candidates, including former Congress leader Bhubaneswar Kalita from Assam, and allotted two seats to its allies, including Dalit leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale from Maharashtra.

6:31 PM

Waiting to see what happens in Madhya Pradesh: Pawar

NCP Chief Sharad Pawar says, "We are waiting to see what happens in Madhya Pradesh. People have faith in Kamal Nath Ji's abilities," reports ANI.

6:20 PM

Rahul Gandhi retweets picture with Scindia, Nath

6:12 PM

BJP announces Rajya Sabha candidates for upcoming election

5:52 PM

BJP names Jyotiraditya Scindia as its Rajya Sabha candidate from MP

5:47 PM

Kamal Nath govt will survive, say MP Cong MLAs

Several of the nearly 90 Congress MLAs who landed in Jaipur amid a political crisis in Madhya Pradesh triggered by former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia's exit from the party told reporters that there was not threat to the Kamal Nath government and it will survive. The MLAs arrived at the Jaipur airport around 2.30 pm in a special flight from Bhopal and were received by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot along with other party leaders.

5:47 PM

Horse-trading being done 'shamelessly' in MP: Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday accused the BJP of "shamelessly" indulging in horse-trading in Madhya Pradesh on the basis of money power. Those ruling the country are murdering the democracy and the entire country will teach them a lesson, he told reporters at the airport here as he arrived to receive Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh.

5:46 PM

Good to be on the same team: Raje welcomes Jyotiraditya to BJP

BJP national vice president and former Rajasthan chief minister, Vasundhara Raje, on Wednesday welcomed her nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia's decision to join the BJP, saying he has followed the high ideals of the legacy of Vijaya Raje Scindia. "Jyotiraditya has followed the high ideals of the legacy of Vijaya Raje Scindia and took the decision in the interest of the country. I welcome this decision personally and politically,” she said in a statement.