Can BJP do a Karnataka in MP; if yes, who will be CM, speculation rife
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 13
Can the BJP do a Karnataka in Madhya Pradesh and who will be the chief minister in case it does, speculation is rife in the state passing through a deep political crisis.
The BJP had pulled the rug out from under the feet of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government by allegedly “engineering” the resignation of 22 MLAs.
If views of the Shiv Sena are taken into account, the answer won’t be amenable to BJP supporters. An editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, while criticising the Congress for neglecting aspirations of its youth leaders (Jyotiraditya Scindia who recently crossed over to the BJP), asked the BJP to stop “daydreaming”. It should know that like in Maharashtra a “shock experiment” can also take place in Madhya Pradesh, it said.
Scindia and 22 MLAs may have put the 14-month-old Kamal Nath government in deep crisis, observers believe, but the last word is yet to be said.
The Congress is not expected to give up so easily and is believed to have assigned its senior Karnataka leader and chief troubleshooter, DK Shivakumar, the duty of “rescuing” and “wooing back” Madhya Pradesh MLAs.
Shivakumar has the experience of handling the similar issue in Karnataka when the JD(S)-Congress government was toppled. And not just him, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and chief ministers of other Congress-ruled states are also on the job, say sources.
Whether they are able to withstand the BJP machinations remains to be seen but Madhya Pradesh Speaker NP Prajapati has issued notices to these MLAs, asking them to appear before him by Friday and clarify whether they have resigned voluntarily or were under pressure.
Meanwhile, the BJP has sought a floor test on March 16.
The Congress says it is ready to face the test but only after a decision on resignation of the 22 MLAs. Its leaders claim that 13 of these MLAs want to return as they did not know that Scindia would join the BJP. “They thought it was a fight for a Rajya Sabha ticket, also that he could float a party,” they claim.
The situation can swing either way and the prospect of President’s Rule cannot be ruled out, say observers.
As the big question mark hangs over the future of the Congress which came to power with a wafer-thin majority in the 230-member Assembly, the effective strength of which is now 228, it is not expected to be easy for the BJP in case resignations are not accepted by the Speaker.
It is only if the strength of the Assembly reduces, the BJP will be able to move in. In case it does, then there is the question of who would be the chief minister.
Speculation is rife that Shivraj Singh Chouhan will occupy the chair again. Several other names are doing the rounds, including that of Morena MP Narendra Singh Tomar, the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development at the Centre.
The others names are those of Leader of the Rajya Sabha Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Prahlad Singh Patel and Union Minister of Tourism Kailash Vijayvargiya.
