BHOPAL: Speculation swirled that Congress might suffer another shock in Madhya Pradesh when former AICC chief
Rahul Gandhi
arrives to campaign in Bhind on Tuesday, after the party’s Indore candidate Akshay Kanti Bam’s “betrayal” as he withdrew his nomination and switched allegiance to BJP on Monday.
Amidst rumours circulating for a month, there is anticipation that a second
Congress MLA
could defect to BJP, with the timing synchronised to coincide with Rahul’s visit for maximum impact.
The speculated MLA is a veteran Congress functionary from Chambal who served as a minister in the Digvijaya Singh-led state govt in the 1990s. Efforts were made by Digvijaya to dissuade the MLA from leaving Congress, with a series of meetings held for this purpose, sources said. The outcome of these efforts remains to be seen on Tuesday.
Aligned with Jyotiraditya Scindia’s faction, the party functionary remained with Congress when Scindia joined BJP in March 2020 along with 22 MLAs, leading to the downfall of the Kamal Nath-led govt. He wasn’t an MLA then. However, after becoming an MLA, sources said he has been cosying up to BJP.
If the
defection
happens, it would mark the second Congress MLA to quit within six months following the assembly elections. On March 29, Kamlesh Shah, a three-time MLA for Amarwara in Chhindwara, left Congress to join BJP.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to arrive in Gwalior from New Delhi around 11.50am on Tuesday. From there, Gandhi will proceed to MP’s Bhind, where he is slated to address a public meeting in support of his party candidate Phool Singh Baraiya — who is contesting against BJP MP Sandhya Rai.
