The Congress had decided to nominate Jyotiraditya Scindia to the Rajya Sabha and the party had communicated the decision to him, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said.
Scindia's actual concern was against allotting one of the two vacant Rajya Sabha seats to party veteran Digvijaya Singh, Venugopal told Onmanorama on Wednesday, hours after Scindia joined the BJP citing several reasons including the party's reluctance to “encourage young leadership”.
After Scindia resigned from the grand old party on Tuesday, talk doing the rounds was that Congress' uncertainty over sending Scindia to Rajya Sabha had forced him to quit.
Asked about this, Venugopal said there was no reluctance to nominate Scindia for a Rajya Sabha seat.
“We had communicated our willingness to send him to the Rajya Sabha. What we have learnt is that he did not want Digvijaya Singh to be a candidate. He was afraid that if Singh is also in the fray, his chances would be scuttled,” Venugopal said.
Asked about reports that Scindia wanted the first seat so that he can be elected comfortably, Venugopal said the situation was favourable for both the leaders to be elected to the Rajya Sabha.
“Usually, we don't say who is the first candidate and who is the second. We had the numbers to send both of them to the Rajya Sabha. But Scindia was afraid that if Singh is in the fray, his chances would be less. That's an unwarranted fear,” he said.
The Congress has not announced the candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh yet.
“Rajya Sabha candidates are decided only two days before the polls. Candidates are decided by Congress president only. It is never discussed at the state level. Sometimes we consult the state leadership,” Venugopal said.
On reports that Scindia demanded the PCC president's post, Venugopal said the former had a nominee for the top post and talks were on about appointing a new state chief.
Asked about the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh where the Kamal Nath-led Congress government is on the brink of collapse following Scindia's rebellion, Venugopal said all efforts are on to “save the government”.
Scindia on Wednesday cited the Congress' refusal to encourage new leadership and corruption in Madhya Pradesh as reasons which prompted him to quit the party. He also cited the "able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi" as the reason for him to join the saffron party.
Will win floor test: Singh
Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday expressed confidence that the Kamal Nath-led government in the state will win a floor test. Thirteen of the 22 rebel MLAs in Madhya Pradesh have given an assurance that "they are not leaving the Congress," he said.
"We are not keeping quiet. We are not sleeping," Singh told PTI.
As uncertainty grew about the future of the Congress government in the state, Singh said nobody anticipated that Scindia, a former Union minister and four-time Lok Sabha MP, would quit the party.
"We did not anticipate that Scindia will quit the Congress... that was a mistake," Singh said.
He added that Scindia was offered the post of Madhya Pradesh deputy chief minister. But Scindia wanted his nominee in the post and Kamal Nath refused to accept a "chela" , he said.
Singh said Scindia could have been a Congress nominee to the Rajya Sabha but "only Modi-Shah" can give a Cabinet post to the "over-ambitious" leader.
Advantage BJP
The Congress has a wafer thin majority in the 228-member assembly. Before the rebellion, its tally was 114. It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one from the SP, but some of them may now switch over to the BJP.
If the resignations of the 22 MLAs are accepted, the strength of the assembly will fall to 206. The Congress, on its own, will then be left with 92 seats while the BJP has 107 seats. The magic number for a majority in such a scenario is 104.
