• 'Misinformation': Congress on talk of Kamal Nath's switch to BJP

    National
    'Misinformation': Congress on talk of Kamal Nath's switch to BJP
    The Congress dismissed the rumors as "misinformation," while Nath's confidant said there was no question of the veteran leader leaving the party.

    Digital Desk: The Congress and a close aide of Kamal Nath on Monday, attempted to quell rumors that he may join the BJP. The Congress dismissed the rumors as "misinformation," while Nath's confidant said there was no question of the veteran leader leaving the party.

    Both the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and his son Nakul Nath, a member of the Lok Sabha, will take part in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is led by Rahul Gandhi, when it goes through the state, according to Congress general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Jitendra Singh. The rumour that Kamal Nath and his son could join the ruling BJP was refuted by Singh.

    "Kamal Nath ji is a senior leader of our party. The media and the BJP are the ones who have created all of these rumors. I spoke with him yesterday and the day before yesterday as well, and we discussed the preparations for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra," Speaking with reporters at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, Singh said.

    "Tomorrow, I'm heading to Bhopal, where there are meetings with MPs, MLAs, and several committees. In those meetings, Kamal Nath ji will also be present, and his recommendations for the yatra's passage will be duly noted. He'll be a major participant in the Madhya Pradesh yatra," he stated.

    Singh claimed that the BJP constantly tries to "spread wrong news and misinformation" and highlighted that "all this is speculation" when pressed further regarding the rumors that Kamal Nath and his son would join the BJP. When the Nyay Yatra arrives in the state later this month, Kamal Nath would "100%" take part, according to him. "The preparations for the yatra are on, he (Nath) is participating in that," Singh stated.

    When asked about Nakul Nath, the MP for Chhindwara, Singh replied that he is a party member and will take part in the yatra. Sajjan Singh Verma, a close associate of Kamal Nath, had dismissed rumors that the longtime Congress leader was thinking about joining the BJP, claiming it was irrelevant for him to leave the party he had spent more than 40 years with.

    Verma claimed that neither Kamal Nath nor his son Nakul Nath would join the BJP and that the latter will run as the Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, which are anticipated to take place in April or May, from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. Speaking to reporters after visiting Kamal Nath at his home here, Verma said he had a thorough conversation with the veteran Congress leader, who informed him that he will soon organize a conference in Bhopal to ensure the Nyay Yatra's success.

    "I will call all of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee's in-charges and we will talk about the Lok Sabha election preparations," declared Kamal Nath to me. When I questioned him about the rumors in the media about him, he responded, "Why should I answer an imaginary question?" Verma said.

    "I don't believe I have to respond to such fictitious inquiries. I kept my decision to leave the Congress and my compromise with the BJP a secret from the media. If that were the case, I would have responded, but why should I respond to a hypothetical question?" Verma reported Kamal Nath as saying. He said the question of Kamal Nath leaving the grand old party does not arise.

    "Thinking that the person who has worked with Indiraji, Rajivji and Sanjayji, who is referred to as Indira's (Gandhi) third son, will leave the party is meaningless. A person who has spent 40 years in the Congress, how can he go anywhere?" Verma asked.

    Upon his arrival in Delhi on Saturday afternoon, Kamal Nath suggested the reporters present not to get too excited during their brief interview. When inquired about his plans to join the BJP, Nath responded, "If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first." Kamal Nath is a political strategist who has collaborated with three generations of the Gandhi family. Then-prime minister Indira Gandhi referred to him as her third son in 1979.

    The former chief minister is reportedly enraged that he was not given a seat in the Rajya Sabha and that Rahul Gandhi is upset with him because the Congress lost the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections last year. Following the BJP's crushing defeat in the assembly elections, which saw it win 163 seats in the 230-member House, Kamal Nath was dismissed as the head of the party's Madhya Pradesh unit. It took the Congress just 66 seats to win.