New Delhi, Mar 9 (IANS): Congress leaders are trying to pacify sulking Madhya Pradesh leader Jyotiraditya Scindia after the political crisis in the state deepened with at least 10 MLAs having flown to Bengaluru and two already in Bengal.
Sources say senior Congress leader Karan Singh has pitched in to broker a truce between the two factions in the state. The source said that he will try to evolve a formula which may save the government in the state.
However, his staff denied any meeting at the residence of Karan Singh at Nyay Marg in Delhi. Chief Minister Kamal Nath this morning had met party interim chief Sonia Gandhi and had apprised her of the situation in the state.
Jyotiraditya Scindia
Nath and Scindia were in Delhi on Monday and the Congress leadership hopes that Scindia is pacified.
Sources say that Scindia is not only miffed with the denial of Rajya Sabha seat but he is feeling humiliated since the government in Madhya Pradesh has been formed by the party. The matter will not end with a truce for a Rajya Sabha seat.
This time the move is serious as Purshottam Parashar is leading the MLAs who is very close to Scindia.
The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has been brought to the edge of a collapse as MLAs, including some ministers, close to former MP Scindia were on Monday flown to BJP-ruled Karnataka by a chartered flight from Delhi.
According to airport sources in Delhi, about 10 persons, including Bankim Silawat, the son of Congress Minister Tulsi Silawat, and Scindia's close aide Purushottam Parashar, flew from the national capital to Bengaluru in a Falcon 2000 aircraft.
A source said that the chartered flight left Delhi at 8 a.m. and reached Bengaluru by 10.40 a.m.
Apart from the two close Scindia associates, the others were Rajyawardhan Singh, Pradhuman Singh Tomar, Giriraj, Raksha Sinoriya, Jaswant Jatav, Suresh Dhakad, Jajpal Singh and Brijendra Yadav.
Attempt to contact the MLAs did not succeed as they had switched off their mobiles. Asked about who booked the flight, the airport source refused to share any details.
The shocker for the Madhya Pradesh government comes on a day when Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi and briefed her about the current political situation in the state following last week's attempt to topple the government.