Digvijaya Singh said Mr Scindia was like a son to him (File)

Bhopal:

Contrary to Gujarat, no defections of Congress MLAs will take place in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the elections for three Rajya Sabha seats, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said on Sunday.

In the light of resignations by 22 MLAs of the Congress in March this year, which led to the fall of Kamal Nath government, Mr Singh demanded a stricter anti-defection law in the country.

On three MLAs of the Congress resigning as the members of the Gujarat Assembly in the last few days ahead of the June 19 elections to Rajya Sabha, Mr Singh accused the ruling BJP of playing “politics of money” and resorting to “horse trading”.

“The BJP has earned a lot of money and is engaged in the politics of horse-trading, so it is hard to say about MLAs switching sides,” he said.

Mr Singh said the MLAs who wanted to leave the Congress had done so in Madhya Pradesh.

“Those who decided to stay in the party have passed a tough exam. So, this (defection) is not going to happen in MP,” Mr Singh said while addressing a press conference.

In March this year, 22 MLAs of the Congress, led by former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, had resigned and joined the BJP.

On defection of Mr Scindia, Mr Singh said, “I used to tell Scindia that he will lead the Congress in Madhya Pradesh for the next 25 years as Kamal Nath and I are growing older. But, he was impatient and ardently desired to become a minister in the Modi cabinet”.

Mr Singh said Mr Scindia was like a son to him.

“His father (late Madhavrao Scindia) had made his place as a brave and honest leader in the Congress,” he said.

Mr Singh said the Congress always treated Jyotiraditya Scindia with a lot of respect.

“Priyanka Gandhi Vadra used to hold workers’ meetings at the residence of Scindia. Rahul Gandhi had said that Scindia was the only person who could meet him any time without appointment. What was the need for him to leave the party after he lost one election (from Guna in 2019)?” Mr Singh asked.