Bhopal (The Hawk): The Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) of the Congress party, led by former president Rahul Gandhi, is scheduled to enter Madhya Pradesh on November 20. It is generating buzz in the state's political scene and laying a quiet foundation for the upcoming Assembly election, which is expected to take place in the latter half of 2023.
According to rumours, both the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were developing their own strategies to compete with one another.
Sources claim that the BJP has prepared two plans for a "Mini Operation Lotus" against the Congress before or during Rahul Gandhi's BJY in the state.
According to sources who spoke to IANS, the BJP may attempt to oust at least 8–10 Congress MLAs under the first plan.
Additionally, it might target Congress MLAs from tribal regions, particularly those that are close to Gujarat, a state that is going to the polls, like the Jhabua and Malwa-Nimar regions.
Sources claim that the BJP will attempt to give the impression that "BJY is having no impact" in accordance with its stated strategy.
However, some political analysts also believed that the BJP is unlikely to reveal its "Plan A" of poaching a number of Congress MLAs.
According to a source, "Plan B" is to give the impression that the tribals are not supporting the old party, and it may have an effect in tribal seats in Madhya Pradesh's bordering Gujarat state.
According to sources, some Congress MLAs communicate with the BJP via mining magnate-turned-MLA Sanjay Pathak, who was previously a member of the Congress.
Bhupendra Singh, the minister for urban development in Madhya Pradesh, dismissed rumours that the party intended to kidnap Congressmen during Rahul Gandhi's visit to the state.
"Congress is spreading rumours because they are in a panic. Yes, there are numerous Congress MLAs who maintain regular contact with the BJP, but this "Operation Lotus" rumour was made up by the Congress. Since we are aware that the Bharat Jodo Yatra won't have any bearing on the results of the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, we are not concerned about it "Singh continued.
The day before BJY was set to enter Madhya Pradesh, a meeting of all BJP legislators was scheduled, which led to further rumours and assumptions.
According to sources, V.D. Sharma, the state unit president of the BJP, and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called the meeting. The meeting on November 19 has been invited to all BJP lawmakers.
Additionally, over 20 BJP MLAs, according to some sources, are considering leaving the party out of fear that the saffron party will exclude them from the next election. The majority of them are Jyotiraditya Scindia supporters who worry about being dropped by the BJP, according to a source.
A Congress leader who spoke on the condition of anonymity added that "BJP MLAs are in contact with Kamal Nath and the Congress has done its preparations to give the BJP an appropriate reply" if they try to play any games.
The Congress leader continued, "Kamal Nath had said that 'BJP MLAs are in touch with us'... and that is a kind of warning to the BJP.
(Inputs from Agencies)
