Kamal Nath exudes confidence ahead of MP bypolls; claims 'Shivraj won't remain CM'

On Monday, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath claimed that Shivraj Singh Chouhan will have to step down as the Madhya Pradesh CM after the results of the bypolls are declared. By-elections will be held to the Khandwa Lok Sabha seat and the Assembly constituencies of Prithvipur, Raigaon and Jobat on October 30 for which the counting of votes will take place on November 2. Addressing a rally in support of Congress' Khandwa candidate Rajnarayan Singh Purni, he asserted that the people will script a new history as they are tired of BJP's "false promises". 

Hitting out at the performance of the BJP government, former MP CM Kamal Nath remarked, "When Congress formed the government in 2018, Madhya Pradesh was number one in farmer suicides. Madhya Pradesh was number one in unemployment. Madhya Pradesh was number one in atrocities against women. The state was number one in corruption. The Chief Minister made 22,000 announcements." 

"The clock is ticking for Shivraj Ji. After the counting of votes on November 2, the state will remember the number of announcements you made when you are no longer the CM. You announced a bridge where there is no river," he added. Highlighting that loans of 27 lakh farmers had been waived when he was the CM, he accused the Shivraj Chouhan-led government of stopping the loan waiver scheme. 

The collapse of the Kamal Nath government

A 9-term Lok Sabha MP from Chhindwara, Kamal Nath made a foray into state politics after taking oath as the Chief Minister of MP on December 17, 2018. However, his government plunged into crisis in 2020 after Jyotiraditya Scindia’s sudden resignation from the Congress party on March 10, 2020, followed by 22 MP Congress MLAs putting in their papers. Ruling on a plea of BJP leaders seeking an immediate floor test, a two-judge SC bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta observed that the MP Assembly session should be reconvened for the sole purpose of holding a floor test by show of hands.

Most importantly, rebel MLAs were not compelled to attend the session. As the Congress party was short of a majority, Kamal Nath announced his resignation on March 20, 2020. Subsequently, Chouhan took oath as the MP CM for the fourth time. Thereafter, three more Congress leaders resigned as legislators and joined BJP. After the Cabinet expansion in July 2020, 14 of the 22 MLAs who had resigned from Congress became a part of Shivraj Chouhan's Cabinet. 

In November 2020, Nath's bid to return as the CM suffered a setback after Congress could win only 9 out of the 28 seats which went to the bypolls. While the bypolls were necessitated in 25 seats due to the resignation of Congress MLAs, three other constituencies went to the polls as the respective sitting legislators passed away. As BJP now has a simple majority of its own after winning 19 seats, the MP government is likely to last for its remaining tenure.