Bhopal, March 14 As it struggles to retain power in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress on Saturday claimed that its MLAs taken to Bengaluru are under pressure to quit the Assembly.
Most them are likely to withdraw their resignations once they are back in Bhopal.
However, senior party leader and state unit working President Ramnivas Rawat, who has been very close to the Scindia family since the days of Madhavrao Scindia, said, "I was a Congressman and will remain a Congressman. Our party MLAs are being held hostage in Bengaluru. When they reach Bhopal, they will not press their resignations.
"We have not left Scindia; it was Scindia who left us. The BJP gave him the title of 'Vibhishan' while welcoming him into the party. Now, this may be in the right or wrong context. But in our country, no parents name their children 'Vibhishan' due to the stigma of betrayal attached to it."
When asked that how did he contact the MLAs as the Congress was alleging that even the family members were not able to contact them, Rawat said, "This should remain a secret."
Rawat claimed that he has been loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia's father Madhavrao Scindia and left the Congress to join the MP Vikas Congress, a party floated by senior Scindia, after resigning from the grand old party.
"I still have respect for the Scindia family, but I will always be in Congress," he said.
The Congress working Pesident also claimed that Scindia left the party as he was of the view that the grand old party would not grow in the future. "I agree with Rahul Gandhi that Scindia abandoned his ideology as he felt insecure about his political future," Rawat said.
He said that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh had asked him to contest the Rajya Sabha elections, but he declined the ticket. "If I were to contest, people would have alleged that I ditched Jyotiraditya Scindia for Rajya Sabha nomination," he said.
Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati has sent notices to rebel MLAs to appear before him by March 15. Earlier, Prajapati called all 22 MLAs on three different dates. Now these MLAs can meet him till 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Some members feel the government could postpone the floor test if all MLAs do not appear before the Speaker. The government can also move the Supreme Court. According to the rule, all legislators are required to appear before the Speaker.
On Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Govind Singh had requested the Speaker to get a detailed inquiry conducted into the resignations of the 19 MLAs. He said that the MLAs should be asked under what circumstances they resigned. If they were not voluntary, they should be cancelled.
The 19 Congress MLAs held captive at a resort in Bengaluru had sent their resignations to the speaker through BJP MLA Bhupendra Singh. Three more had resigned later.
Six of the MLAs were expected to reach Bhopal on Friday after the Assembly Speaker issued a notice, but they kept him waiting all day. BJP President J.P. Nadda went to meet the MLAs in Bengaluru and the MLAs are in touch with him.
On March 12, minister in the Kamal Nath government Jeetu Patwari also reached Bangalore to meet the legislators, but he were not allowed to meet them.
( With inputs from IANS )