Bhopal: Kamal Nath is currently preparing for the defence of his short chief ministership. And his best bet is the COVID-19.
Nath had requested the governor to reschedule the Budget session for March 26 in view of the viral threat, and the governor has obliged. The governor and the Bharatiya Janata Party know that this would only buy more time for the beleaguered Nath-Digvijay Singh duo.
The Congress MLAs sequestered in Bangalore were ready to board the flight to Bhopal on Saturday night but on reaching the airport, they were told of the possibility of being quarantined in Bhopal on arrival. They beat a hasty retreat. J.P. Nadda, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tomar are believed to have met them on Sunday in Bangalore and reassured them that they would all be given “what they have been promised”. The MLAs have now arrived, each with their health certificate. And perhaps under CRPF cover.
“The RSS has cancelled its meet in Bangalore in view of the threat but they want to send the MLAs from there to here. We will have to quarantine them if need be,” says Digvijay. The BJP believes that if the MLAs are quarantined then they will be under pressure so they have asked for CRPF cover against any strong arm tactics by the state police.
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The governor had earlier asked the government to prove its majority immediately after his speech. There is some questioning as to whether the speaker’s power to run his house can be affected by this but there is very little the government can do against a governor in this mode. The fact is that around 1,200 people including MLAs, bureaucrats, assembly staff, supporters and press had to assemble in the Vidhan Sabha, and this may be against the coronavirus protocol at the moment.
But strangely, neither Nath nor Singh had said anything against the convening of the assembly in any loud protesting terms. Their people believe that they have had some tricks up their sleeves, but whatever it is it would have to be good because at the moment the equation is like this. Members are at 228, six resignations have been accepted which makes it 222. If the remaining 16 are accepted then it will come down 206. The BJP has 107 which is more than the required and it will then be through. If the speaker does not accept the resignations and throws a spanner and delays the vote then it will only lead to courts or governor’s rule.
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Nath and Singh, though, seem to have nothing substantial up their sleeve, except hope. Singh has filed his papers for the Rajya Sabha and his spot is ensured, while another Congress candidate Phool Singh Baraiyya, formerly of the BSP, will have to take his chances. Beyond that their supporters really don’t know what they are planning. Their acts so far have not been encouraging though the bombast has continued with Nath claiming he is here for ten years and Singh claiming he has 122 MLAs.
There is some talk of all three Scindia, Nath and Singh being under Amit Shah’s famous spell. Singh has already blotted his book in Goa and he may end up with lot of the blame here as well. Though to be fair to him, it appears the duo were ready to give Scindia the Rajya Sabha seat but he changed his tune at the last moment and insisted on the chief minister’s post which did not go down well with Congress high command. The silence of the high command is also perplexing to say the least. It appears the Congress, like it has done so far, is giving up without a fight.
It remains to be seen whether the coronavirus-induced delay with give the party some fresh hope.