Kamal Nath is panicky as his loyal supporters for decades join BJP
By L S Herdenia
Kamal Nath and his Member of Parliament son Nakul Nath suffered great set back when their several loyalists severed their ties with Congress to embrace BJP. This was the happy moment for the BJP which created possibility of snatching only Lok Sabha seat which Congress could win the in the 2019 poll.
Among those who walked out is Amarwara MLA who was considered close confident of Nath family. Nath family suffered another stunning blow when Congress Mayor of Chhindwara left Congress.
The most important tower off Kamal Nath's Chhindwara citadel has now fallen into BJP hands. Nath finds himself holding the Chhindwara fort alone as his loyalists desert him. It's Amarwara assembly segment that gave Nath's son Nakul Nath the crucial lead in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, helping Congress retain the Nath bastion despite the saffron wave that swept up 28of 29 LS seats in the state.
Kamal Nath made an emotional appeal to the people of Chhindwara. “Support me till my last breath,” he said. Chhindwara votes in the first phase on April 19, less than three weeks from now.
After joining BJP, Shah said, “I have been elected MLA from Amarwara on Congress tickets for the third time. Today, I have taken primary membership of BJP after being influenced by the schemes and developmental works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Now, we will work for the all-round development of Amarwara and Chhindwara. We will work to get a historic win for BJP candidate Vivek Bunty Sahu in Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency.”
Shah's defection sent tremors through Congress. He is the first MLA to switch to BJP barely three months after the 2023 assembly polls. He will have to seek re-election within six months if BJP fields him the bypoll. A three-time MLA, Shah was one of Nath's closest confidants. He joined BJP along with his wife Madhavi Shah – a former chairperson of Harrai town council – and sisterKesarNetam, a Chhindwara district panchyat member.
Chhindwara mayor Vikram Ahake, another Kamala Nath loyalist, quit Congress and joined BJP on Monday morning, just three days after party Amarwara MLA Kamlesh Shah defected to the saffron camp. Ahake, a young tribal leader, was given primary membership of BJP by chief minister Mohan Yadav and state BJP president VD Sharma at CM House in Bhopal.
More than former CM Kamal Nath, Ahake was known to be the discovery of his son Nakul Nath, the Chhindwara MP who has been fielded by Congress for the 2024 LS polls. It was on junior Nath's insistence that Congress gave the mayoral election ticket to Ahake in the urban local body polls in 2022. Whenever Nakul toured his constituency, Ahake accompanied him like his shadow. The Naths find themselves increasingly alone as their loyalists desert them.
Ahake said, “I have joined BJP after being influenced by the developmental works of PM Narendra Modi and CM Mohan Yadav and the slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'. I have decided to follow PM Modi and work for his welfare schemes. I am happy that BJP has given me a place in their family.”
CM Yadav alleged, “Chhindwara mayor Vikram Ahake left Congress because of the way Nakul Nath humiliated tribal MLA Kamlesh Shah, who belongs to the Gond royal family of Harrai, by calling him a traitor. Ahake said he does not want to be part of a party that disrespect tribals.”
Reacting to the desertion in a strongly worded statement Nakul Nath described Kamlesh Shah and other party men who left the Congress as traitors. Nakul Nath on Saturday called MLA from Amarwara assembly segment Kamlesh Shah a “gaddar” (traitor). Thrice MLA Kamlesh Shah, who was known as a close aide of former chief minister Kamal Nath, quit Congress and joined the BJP on Friday. Shah's entry into the BJP stunned the Congress party as he is also a sitting MLA who has quit just three months after the assembly election in the state.
Addressing a public meeting in Chhindi village in the Tamia block in Amarwada, an irate Nakul Nath said, “In the last six days, this is my third visit to this block. And in the three visits, your former MLA, he will be former MLA very soon, accompanied me during one visit. I am happy that he was with me during one visit only and that was his last tour.”
Amarwada is a tribal reserved seat and Nakul Nath was speaking at a tribal village, “Generally, tribal people are simple hearted, modest and do not harvest enmity with anyone. They are not traitors and are not saleable,” the Congress MP said, “But the legislator elected by you turned-out to be a gaddar (traitor) and bikau (dishonest). I want to ask you today, will you ever forgive him? In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, if this village voted one-sided then I will accept that you have not forgiven him,” he said.
However, former Madhya Pradesh MLA and ex-BJP leader Laxman Tiwari joined the Congress here on Monday. After joining the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Tiwari stressed the need strengthening the opposition party. He joined the Congress a day after meeting the party's state unit president Jitu Patwari here.
Tiwari's induction into the Congress came at a time when the grand old party is facing desertions from its ranks. Tiwari had won election from the Mauganj assembly constituency in 2008 as the candidate of the Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party (BJSP) floated by former CM Uma Bharti. After the BJSP merged with the BJP, he contested from Mauganj in 2013 as the saffron party nominee, but lost. In the 2018 assembly polls, the BJP denied him re-nomination from the seat, leading him to rebel and enter the fray as an Independent candidate. Last year, he joined the SP and fought the assembly polls from Sirmaur in Rewa district.
(IPA Service)
