Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made his first public statement on the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh following the resignations of Jyotiraditya Scindia and 22 of his loyalist MLAs.
The resignations of the MLAs have put the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh in crisis, making it a minority dispensation.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Gandhi alleged the Narendra Modi government was attempting to destabilise a Congress government, while ignoring the crash in global oil prices, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Interestingly, Gandhi did not refer directly to Scindia’s resignation.
Gandhi tweeted, “Hey @PMOIndia, while you were busy destabilising an elected Congress Govt, you may have missed noticing the 35% crash in global oil prices. Could you please pass on the benefit to Indians by slashing #petrol prices to under 60₹ per litre? Will help boost the stalled economy.”
The resignation of Scindia had led to considerable criticism of Rahul Gandhi, including claims that he had refused to meet the Madhya Pradesh leader for months.
It was during Gandhi’s tenure as Congress chief that the Congress became the single-largest party in the Madhya Pradesh elections in late 2018. While Scindia was a claimant to the chief minister’s post, the party eventually went with Kamal Nath. Scindia had purportedly wanted the post of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief and a Rajya Sabha seat, but the party apparently did little to act on the demands.