Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath is likely to resign from the post following the party's disastrous performance in the assembly elections, said reports.
The former chief minister will meet party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday, following which he may tender his resignation from the post. There are speculations that he has been asked to quit.
Under Kamal Nath's leadership, Congress was relegated to 66 seats in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly. BJP stormed to power, winning 163 seats. While exit polls had predicted the BJP to do well, the state Congress camp had expected to come back to power, so much so that posters and banners hailing Kamal Nath as the next chief minister had sprung up all over Bhopal.
There are reports that discontentment has been brewing against Kamal Nath following his remarks against leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, over seat sharing. Nath's reluctance to share seats with the SP and JD(U) had prompted both the parties to field candidates in Madhya Pradesh.
Nath's reluctance to meet party leaders and workers but rushing to meet Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has also irked party workers.
A lot in the party believe that Congress lost a lot of seats due to poor candidate selection by Kamal Nath. The Congress chief had insisted on fielding his men that even Digvijaya Singh’s candidates had to take a back seat. He, apparently, didn't want any one group to emerge powerful and topple his potential government.
Nath also hogged the entire limelight during the campaign leaving most second-rung leaders invisible.
Key meeting
The Congress convened a meeting of all 230 candidates on Tuesday to discuss the defeat in the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections and the reasons behind the poor performance. Party leaders told PTI that the meeting will also discuss how to strengthen the party and the way forward. "Your attendance is necessary at the important meeting. You are requested to arrive at the Pradesh Congress Committee at 11 am," read a letter sent to the candidates on Monday.
Besides Kamal Nath, senior leaders Digvijaya Singh, Suresh Pachouri and others will attend the meeting.
