After Mayawati threat to bring down his government, Kamal Nath’s counter

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, facing a threat to his thin majority after Mayawati’s statement about reconsidering her support, said on Wednesday “any misunderstanding will be sorted out” and that all parties that have a common goal to fight the BJP have to stick together.
“Mayawati’s party has the same goal as us, that is the exit of the BJP. Our goal and ideology is the same. To keep the BJP out, we have to stick together. There is no divide. If there is any misunderstanding, we will resolve it together,” said Kamal Nath, who became Chief Minister in December after the Congress emerged as the largest party in state polls.
Mayawati, the chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has responded angrily to her party candidate in the Guna parliamentary constituency joining the Congress to help its leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Lokendra Singh Rajput quit on Monday and came out in support of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has been winning the seat since 2002, when he contested by-polls after the death of his father Madhavrao Scindia. Guna will vote on May 12 in the national election that ends on May 19.
“The BSP candidate was intimidated and threatened and forced to drop out but the BSP will give a reply by contesting under its own symbol and will also consider whether to continue its support to the state Congress government,” Mayawati tweeted.
The Congress has 113 lawmakers in the 230-member assembly, three short of the majority mark of 116. With the support of three lawmakers from the BSP and Samajwadi Party and four independents, it has 120. If Mayawati pulls out, that number will come down to 118. The BJP, which ruled Madhya Pradesh for 15 years, is not too far behind with 109 seats.
Kamal Nath and Mayawati have not been on the best of terms since their talks for a pre-poll alliance crashed last year. The BSP chief lashed out at the Congress but extended her support when the party fell short of a majority in Madhya Pradesh.
Since then, ties between Mayawati and the Congress have progressively grown brittle. After leaving the Congress out of her alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha election, the BSP chief declared that her party would have no tie-up with the Congress anywhere in the country.
The results of the national election will be declared on May 23.