‘Dear Mrs Gandhi... Unable to Serve the Nation in Congress’: What Scindia Said in His Resignation Letter

New Delhi: Disgruntled Madhya Pradesh leader Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Congress on Tuesday, hurtling the grand old party into crisis on Holi and virtually signaling the collapse of the Kamal Nath government since 16 MLAs loyal to the Gwalior royal are likely to follow suit.

Scindia sent his resignation to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi a couple of hours after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, hinting at an entry into the BJP.

In his resignation letter, Scindia said he was unable to serve the country and his state while remaining in the Congress.

The hectic developments coincide with the birth anniversary of Scindia’s father, the late Congress stalwart Madhavrao Scindia.

For the Congress, which has claimed that it expelled Scindia for anti-party activities, the crisis unfolded on Monday evening when a sulking Scindia, along with 17 loyal MLAs, virtually revolted, prompting Chief Minister Kamal Nath to empty out his cabinet to woo the rebels who are holed up at a resort in Bengaluru.

Nath had blamed the turmoil on the BJP, alleging that the saffron party was adopting immoral ways to "destabilise my government" and vowed not to let it happen.

Trouble had been brewing in the Congress ahead of Rajya Sabha polls as it had last week accused the BJP of trying to topple its government after 10 MLAs of the ruling party and those of its allies travelled to Haryana, though the BJP had denied the charge. Of them, eight had come back and many of them wanted ministerial berths. However, two Congress MLAs have not yet returned.

Scindia and Nath had fallen out over the post of the state Congress president, which is currently held by the chief minister. Last month, Scindia had threatened to take to the streets if his party's government in the state failed to meet the demands of protesting guest teachers, and Nath virtually dared him to follow through.

If the MLAs loyal to Scindia resign, the Kamal Nath government will lose majority in the state.

While the Congress, which was voted to power in MP after 15 years in 2018, has 114 MLAs, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators. Four Independent MLAs, two lawmakers of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party are supporting the Congress-led state government. The majority mark in the 230-member assembly is 115.