A day after facing embarrassment with two-party MLAs voted in favor of a bill tabled by the Congress government in the Madhya Pradesh, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday went into damage control mode. BJP State Chief Rakesh Singh reached out to party leaders and held an hour-long discussion.
Singh held a meeting with party’s Madhya Pradesh organizational general secretary Suhas Bhagat, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava for over two hours at the party office on Thursday. Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was also present in the meeting.
Party Sources added that Former minister Narottam Mishra and BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak who was earlier with the Congress also met the four leaders.
There was speculation in political circles that Sanjay Pathak, whose father Satyendra Pathak was a minister in a past Congress government in the state, may rejoin Congress in the state. Congress’ fold. However, Pathak dismissed the rumors.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State Chief rushed to Bhopal on Wednesday to took stock of the situation after two-party MLAs cross voted in Madhya Pradesh. “Everything is under control,” the BJP leader told reporters here on Thursday.
In a big blow to BJP, two of its MLAs – Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kol- on Wednesday said they are thinking to join the grand old party in the state.
The two legislators, Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kol, on Wednesday, met Congress Senior leader Suresh Pachauri after voting in favor of the Congress government while passing a bill in the assembly.
‘Both the MLAs of BJP Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kaul have come together with the Congress, influenced by the party’s policy – Suresh Pachauri’ tweeted Congress Madhya Pradesh sharing the picture of the meeting.
A total of 122 MLAs – 120 from Congress 2 from BJP – voted in favor of the Congress government, that stormed to power in December last year. In the 230-member house, the ruling Congress has the support of 121 MLAs, including Speaker NP Prajapati, who did not take part in the voting.
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