Lockdown was delayed to pull down Congress govt in Madhya Pradesh: Kamal Nath

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Sunday blamed the Centre for delaying the lockdown despite the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring Covid-19 as pandemic.

Addressing a press conference, Nath said: "It is obvious that Parliament was run to show that everything is normal and only after Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath, the lockdown was announced".

The former CM said that Parliament was functioning when Odisha and Chhattisgarh assemblies were adjourned and the MP Speaker too had adjourned the House due to coronavirus. So, it was to show that if Parliament could function, why not the assembly."

He said the situation in the state has come to such a pass that there has been no cabinet expansion and despite health emergency, there us no health minister in the state.

He said the congress MLAs had been lured... all of them were not Jyotiraditya Scindia supporters who crossed over to the BJP, which led to the fall of the Congress government.

"All are not Scindia supporters, some have been lured by money. Many of these MLAs had informed us about the kind of allurements. But they will have to face the voters," Nath said. "Besides, there would be dissent from the local BJP candidates".

He said Chouhan's cabinet expansion is delayed because of dissent in the BJP.

Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Vivek Tankha on Saturday wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding imposition of President's rule in Madhya Pradesh if BJP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan fails to form a cabinet.

Calling it an "unconstitutional governance", Tankha hit out at Chouhan, saying the people of Madhya Pradesh deserve a better rule with a cabinet in place, particularly during a pandemic "when the state is suffering deaths daily".