Double jolt for Congress ahead of Lok Sabha Election 2024? Manish Tewari in talks with BJP after Kamal Nath rumours
Congress leader Manish Tewari is in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), says report.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari sparked speculations about joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, just a day after rumors surfaced around former Madhya Pradesh CM joining BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, said sources as quoted by India Today.
Speculation is rife that former Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath might ditch the Congress and switch to the BJP. He reached Delhi on Saturday, reportedly to meet the BJP leadership there.
Several reports claimed that the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister could be upset with the Congress leadership. NDTV quoted sources as saying on Saturday that "Kamal Nath has conveyed his unhappiness to the Congress leadership".
A close aide of Kamal Nath, Sajjan Singh Verma said when a "big politician" decides to sever ties with his organisation, then "all three factors work behind it". He said three things work in politics — "maan, apmaan and swabhimaan (respect, insult and self-respect)".
"When these factors are hurt, a person changes his decisions...When such a top politician who has done a lot for Congress and the nation in the last 45 years, thinks of moving away from his party, then all three factors work behind it," Sajjan Singh told news agency ANI.
"A person who dedicated 45 years to Congress, if somewhere we are not able to respect that person, then it is the weakness of that political party. That's why a person is free to take his own decision," he added.
There are speculations that Kamal Nath might also be "unhappy" over not being nominated for the Rajya Sabha elections this year. However, sources told NDTV that this wasn't true. They were quoted as saying that the former chief minister had pushed for Ashok Singh's nomination from Madhya Pradesh and did not want Meenakshi Natarajan to be nominated. Natarajan was reportedly Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's pick for the Upper House.
Kamal Nath was replaced by Jitu Patwari as the president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee in December last year. This was soon after the Congress faced defeat in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2023.
The BJP retained power in Madhya Pradesh after winning 163 of the total 230 assembly seats in the state. The Congress won 66 seats and the Bharat Adivasi Party bagged one seat in the 2023 state election.
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Business NewsNewsIndiaDouble jolt for Congress ahead of Lok Sabha Election 2024? Manish Tewari in talks with BJP after Kamal Nath rumours
First Published:18 Feb 2024, 11:47 AM IST
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