MP Congress MLA Sumitra Devi Kasdekar resigns from post and joins BJP; 24th MLA to do so

In yet another setback to Madhya Pradesh Congress, another MLA Sumitra Devi Kasdekar submitted her resignation as MLA to protem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma on Friday. After her resignation was accepted, Kasdekar promptly joined BJP in the presence of CM Shivraj Chouhan. With Kasdekar's resignation, 24 Congress MLAs have quit till date.

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24th Congress MLA quits in MP

This development comes days after Bada Malhera MLA Pradyumn Singh Lodhi resigned from his post and immediately joined BJP in the presence of CM Shivraj Chouhan. Lodhi has now been made chairman of Food and Civil Supplies Corporation. As of now, BJP has now accommodated 14 Congress rebels in its cabinet.

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Madhya Pradesh cabinet expansion

On July 2, due to the ill-health of Governor Lalji Tandon, acting MP Governor Anandiben Patel was sworn in. Moreover - 28 ministers were sworn in - 20 of the cabinet rank and 8 of the ministers of state rank. 12 of the 22 Congress rebels and Scindia loyalists managed to secure ministerial berths. Apart from these 12, two rebel MLAs -Tulsi Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput had already been sworn in shortly after CM Shivraj Chouhan took oath.

Congress political crisis

The crisis in the Kamal Nath government started when Congress alleged BJP of poaching 4 MLAs - two of which returned to Kamal Nath's folds. Soon, 22 MLAs including 6 cabinet ministers - loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia - quit the party, reducing the Congress to a minority government with 92 MLAs. The biggest jolt occurred when former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia formally submitted his resignation to Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi and then joined the BJP. After Nath stepped down as CM and the Madhya Pradesh Speaker accepted all 22 MLAs' resignation, all of them promptly joined BJP. By-polls will be held soon on these 26 seats.

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Meanwhile in Rajasthan, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot launched a rebellion when  Rajasthan's Special Operations Group (SOG) issued notice to Pilot in connection with the alleged involvement of BJP leaders for toppling the state government - with BJP members hinting that Pilot was reportedly in touch with the BJP camp to become the CM. In response, Pilot and 18 MLAs arrived in Delhi, reducing the Congress' numbers from 107 to 88. While Gehlot has submitted a letter of support from over 104 MLAs, all attempts to woo back Pilot failed as he maintained that the will not be joining BJP. The Congress has sacked Pilot as Deputy CM, state party chief, and 2 cabinet ministers, issuing all 19 MLAs disqualification notice by Speaker. Pilot and his MLAs have challenged the disqualification in the Rajasthan High Court.

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