Madhya Pradesh Congress chief dials MLAs amid buzz of Kamal Nath joining BJP

As speculations are rife that former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, along with his son Nakul, and other MPs may join the BJP, the chief of the state’s Congress unit, Jitu Patwari, is on alert mode and spoke to some MLAs on the phone.

This latest development came a day after Patwari had dismissed the speculation reports as “baseless,” saying that he could not even imagine Kamal Nath joining the BJP even in his dreams.

He also said that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had referred to Kamal Nath as her “third son” when he first entered contested elections in 1980..

The state Congress chief added that Kamal Nath has been with the Congress since the 1970s when his friendship with Sanjay Gandhi made headlines. The two went to Dehradun’s Doon School together.

On Saturday, the speculation surrounding Kamal Nath’s possible switch intensified after his former media advisor and BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja posted a photo of the former Chief Minister and his son in Bhopal and captioned it, “Jai Shri Ram.”

Speculations rife about former Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath likely to join the BJP

Meanwhile, Nakul Nath, the Congress MP from Chhindwara, even removed ‘Congress’ from his profile bio on X.

In a related development, Sajjan Singh Verma, a former Madhya Pradesh minister and also a Congress MLA from Sonkatch, is slated to arrive in Delhi on Sunday.

Regarding the speculation, Verma, who is considered to be amongst the staunchest supporters of Kamal Nath, made a cryptic remark on Saturday and said, “Three things work in politics — respect, insult, and self-respect. When these are hurt, a person changes his decisions.”

“When such a top politician who has done a lot for Congress and the nation in the last 45 years, thinks of moving away from his party, then all three factors work behind it,” he said.

After the 2023 assembly polls in the state, Kamal Nath was ousted as the head of the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit, with Patwari replacing him in the post.

In the elections, the BJP secured a commanding victory with 163 seats out of the 230-member House, while the Congress won only 66 seats, down from the 114 it had won in 2018.

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