At a lengthy and emotional press conference at noon, Kamal Nath said he was quitting as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, sparing himself the ignominy of a floor test, lined up for two hours later, which he was certain to lose.
His resignation, delivered to the Governor, will facilitate the return of Shivraj Singh Chouhan for a fourth term as head of the large state.
Till yesterday afternoon, Kamal Nath refused to capitulate, claiming to NDTV in an interview that he was in "secret talks" with the 22 rebel MLAs from his party who were getting some forced R&R at a resort in faraway Bengaluru where they had been transported after the leader they pledge allegiance to, Jyotiradtiya Scindia, pole vaulted from the Congress to the BJP. It was clear then that Scindia had the power to bring down Kamal Nath's government. At his presser today, Kamal Nath, 73, referred caustically to the betrayal by a "Maharaj", accepting that it was 49-year-old Scindia whose collusion with the BJP has forced him out from power.
The comatose Congress had allowed, since December, when it won Madhya Pradesh, the prospect of a crash-and-burn. Headed by the Gandhis, the party refused Scindia's petition to give him some sort of equity in the decision-making in his home state. Kamal Nath and his one-time opponent, Digvijaya Singh, squad-ed to keep Scindia confined to Delhi. After various pleas went unentertained and the Gandhis refused to make time to see him, Scindia defected to the BJP and then proceeded to extract his full measure of revenge by getting 22 to resign. Once ensconced in Bengaluru, which is now established as Defector Central, they were impossible to woo back, despite a trip down south by Digvijaya Singh which saw his attempts to meet the MLAs skittered by the police.
"Maharaj (Scindia, from the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior) ne gira di Sarkar. Raja Digvijay Singh (erstwhile royal from Raghogarh) se pura badla liya," gloated a young Congress leader, who is primed for a Scindia-inspired switch. The "Scindia Shocker", as a senior Congress leader describes it, could open the flood gates for those leaders in the party who see themselves as vote-getters and not a part of what they call the "unelectables" that form the court around the Gandhi family.
