Unease Among BJP, Congress Before 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' Enters Madhya Pradesh

There's unease among BJP and Congress MLAs as Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Madhya Pradesh on November 20 after crossing six states. Big leaders of the ruling BJP and opposition Congress have both claimed that legislators from the other party are eager to switch sides in the state. There is a possibility of a 'mini-Operation Lotus' ahead of the arrival of the Congress foot march, sources have said.
        
The battle of claims and counter-claims started recently with former state minister and Congress MLA from Bhitarwar, Lakhan Singh Yadav, claiming that many BJP legislators were eager to join the Congress. A few weeks earlier, Leader of Opposition Dr Govind Singh too had claimed that many Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist MLAs wanted to return to Congress, as they felt cheated by the BJP. Former Chief Minister and state chief of the grand old party, Kamal Nath, had said, "Many BJP MLAs, who fear not being fielded in next year's assembly polls, are in touch with us. But we'll give priority to our organisation in the next state polls."

The state's Home Minister Narottam Mishra was quick to respond. 

"He (Kamal Nath) should peep into recent history, whenever he has claimed that BJP MLAs are in touch with him and his party colleagues, his own party has disintegrated, be it in March 2020, just a few months after by-elections, or during the Presidential election in July 2022, when at least 17 Congress MLAs had cross voted for the NDA candidate in Madhya Pradesh. It's him (Kamal Nath) who started approaching our MLAs while in power in 2019, but got a befitting response a few months later. He is wrong if he thinks that the BJP will not give him a fitting response if he attempts any misadventure," he said.
         
BJP sources say around 10-12 Congress MLAs, mostly from Malwa-Nimar from where Rahul Gandhi will enter the state, are in touch with BJP leaders. One of these legislators comes from a family with a BJP background, while another is a big businessman-turned-politician from Central Madhya Pradesh who was earlier a BJP legislator. They are exploring joining BJP, as they feel they could be among 25-30 sitting Congress MLAs who may be denied tickets in next year's Assembly polls due to lousy performance and declining popularity.

Sources in the Congress also claimed that over 20 BJP MLAs, who are nervous about being denied tickets by the ruling party in the next state polls, are in touch with top leaders of the Congress in the state. Most of these are from the Gwalior-Chambal and Vindhya regions, they said.
     
Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Madhya Pradesh from the Burhanpur district of the state late in the evening on November 20. Notably, an independent MLA from Burhanpur, Surendra Singh Shera, was made in charge of arrangements for the Burhanpur-Khandwa leg of the Yatra just a few days back. The letter to Mr Shera from the state Congress office, signed by party organisational Vice President Chandra Prabhas Shekhar, says he has been put in charge of all the arrangements for Bharat Jodo Yatra in Burhanpur and Khandwa from November 20 to 23 under instructions from Kamal Nath.

This move has surprised many as the Nimar region is the stronghold of former state Congress Chief and Union minister Arun Yadav. His influence stretches over the Khadwa-Khargone districts. Home Minister and Senior BJP leader Dr Narottam Mishra reacted by saying "Hey Nath, why so much hatred towards Yaduvanshis (Yadavs)".

Mr Shera contested the 2018 assembly elections as an independent after he was denied a Congress ticket. There are two assembly constituencies in Burhanpur district, and MLAs from both are not from Congress. Sumitra Devi Kasdekar of Congress had won from Nepanagar seat in 2018, but she also switched to the BJP shortly after Jyotiraditya Scindia left the Congress. 

Surendra Shera was in the Congress, but in 2018 he rebelled after not getting a ticket. He contested as an independent and won. When the Kamal Nath government was formed in 2018, he supported it, but as soon as the Shivraj Singh Chauhan-led government came, he switched loyalty to support the BJP.