The ruling Congress and theopposition BJP are chalking out strategy to keep their flock of MLAs in Madhya Pradesh together and prevent any cross- voting in the March 26 biennial polls for three Rajya Sabha seats in the state.Madhya Pradesh BJP president V D Sharma, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava, party's chief whip in the assembly Narottam Mishra, BJP vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan and MP BJP organisation general secretary Suhas Bhagatare holding meetings with MLAs in batches since Monday.Likewise, Congress general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Deepak Babaria arrived here on Tuesday for meetings with state leaders and MLAs ahead of the RS polls.He is going to stay put in Madhya Pradesh till Wednesday and will revisit the state shortly, a Congress leader said.According to sources in the BJP, in meetings, the state leadership is telling party legislators to stay alert and promptly inform them in case they are approached by the rival camp in connection with the RS polls.BJP fear of cross-voting stems from the fact that two of its MLAs, Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kol, had voted for a Congress-sponsored bill in the Assembly in July last year.The Congress, whose government in the state is precariously placed, too, looks a worried lot.According to talks in state Congress circles, around nine party MLAs are unhappy with the leadership and some of them are vying for Cabinet berths.Amid preparations for the RS polls, Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh on Monday made a sensational claim that his party MLAs were being offered "huge money by BJP leaders" as part of the saffron party's "poaching" attempt to destabilise the Kamal Nath government.The BJP, however, has rejected the Congress allegations.Talking to reporters on Monday in New Delhi, Singh accused BJP leaders Chouhan and Mishra of offering Rs 25 crore to Rs 35 crore to lure Congress MLAs.The saffron party was giving Rs 5 crore in advance and the remaining amounts in installments to lure them to destabilise the Nath government, Singh, a RS member from Madhya Pradesh whose term is coming to an end, had alleged.Hitting back, former chief minister Chouhan accused the Congress veteran of making false statements to create sensation ahead of the polls.After losing the Lok Sabha polls to BJP MP Pragya Thakur from Bhopal last year, Singh might seek re-election to the Upper House of Parliament, Congress sources said.The ruling party may field former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in the RS elections, they said.Scindia, like Singh, had lost general elections from Guna.The BJP may renominate former Union minister and Dalit leader Satyanarayan Jatiya in the RS polls, party sources said.The three RS seats, which are falling vacant, are currently held by Singh (Congress), Jatiya and Prabhat Jha (both from BJP).The BJP will make all out effort to retain the two seats, where the Congress wants to take it tally to two from one as it has more legislators this time around.The 230-member Assembly has 114 Congress MLAs followed by the BJP (107). The simple majority mark is 116.Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the BSP and one of the Samajwadi Party (SP) are providing crucial support to the Congress government.Members of a state's Legislative Assembly vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
