MP: Congress hopeful Kamal Nath will defuse Rajasthan crisis

Loyalists of Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh on Monday said the Congress veteran can broker peace between factions led by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot. A state Congress leader said he was hopeful that Nath, who heads Congress in Madhya Pradesh, will defuse the crisis in the Congress-ruled state.

"Kamal Nath flew to Delhi around 11.30 AM after getting an urgent call from the party's high command in the wake of political development in Rajasthan. He has already reached Delhi," a leader close to the MP Congress president told PTI in the evening.

This is not the first time that Congress has roped in Nath, a former Union minister who had been a Lok Sabha MP for nine terms, to troubleshoot.


Nath was sent to Maharashtra to save the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress following a rebellion within the Sena.

However, the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned in June owing to a lack of numbers, paving the way for rebel Eknath Shinde to take oath as the CM with the support of the BJP.

"Nath is a tall leader. He had served as Union minister multiple times. He commands respect in Congress," the party leader said.

When asked about the Rajasthan crisis, he said, "of course, Nath can broker peace between the camps of Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot".

Nath has close ties with Gehlot, he said.

A majority of Congress MLAs in Rajasthan have rebelled against Sachin Pilot and want Ashok Gehlot, who is set to contest the upcoming elections for the post of Congress president, to continue as the chief minister.

A day earlier, 82 MLAs loyal to Gehlot resigned to preempt the possible appointment of Pilot as the next chief minister.