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The buzz over senior Congress leader Kamal Nath's possible switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party grew louder on Saturday with the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister saying if there would be any such thing, he would inform the media first.
Congress leaders from Madhya Pradesh, however, stressed the decades-old ties between Kamal Nath and the party to dismiss the speculation that he may cross over to the BJP.
Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari recalled how former prime minister Indira Gandhi had described Nath as her "third son".
Nath arrived in the national capital Saturday afternoon and in his brief interaction with reporters in New Delhi, he asked them not to get excited.
Asked if he is joining the BJP, Nath said, "If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first."
When a reporter asked if he was not denying a possible switch, Nath said, "It is not about denying, you are saying this, you people are getting excited. I am not getting excited, this side or that side, but if there would be any such thing, I would inform you first."
Nath had been on a tour of his bastion Chhindwara, from where he had been an MP for nine terms. His son Nakul Nath won the seat in the 2019 polls, even as the BJP swept the remaining 28 seats in the state.
Patwari dismissed the speculation that the party veteran may jump ship to join the BJP.
Nath's colleague in the party and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh also rubbished the rumours and dubbed them a "media creation".
Patwari told reporters, "Can you dream of the third son of Indiraji (Gandhi) joining the BJP?"
He said Nath stood behind the Congress like a rock during the bad patch when the government led by him was toppled by Jyotiraditya Scindia after joining the BJP in March 2020.
Digvijaya Singh suggested that Nath who started his political innings with the Nehru-Gandhi family could never leave the party.
"Don't get into the breaking business. I spoke with Kamal Nathji last night around 10.30 or 11. He is in Chhindwara. The person who started his political innings with the Gandhi and Nehru family....He stood behind the party when the entire Janata Party and the then government was sending (former PM) Indiraji to jail," he told reporters in Jabalpur.
"Can you believe that such a man will leave Congress, Soniaji and Indiraji family? You all should not even think of it," he added.
Though speculation about Kamal Nath's shift has been going on for the last few days, they got a fresh boost on Friday when state BJP president VD Sharma said Nath and his son are welcome in the BJP if they are unhappy with Congress' decision to boycott the Ram mandir consecration event held in Ayodhya.
"Kamal Nath and his son are welcome in BJP if they are unhappy with their party's decision to boycott Ram Temple inauguration last month and if they want to join the saffron party to serve the country and society under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi," Sharma had told reporters.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats, except Chhindwara.
An astute politician who had worked with three generations of the Gandhi family. In 1979, then prime minister Indira Gandhi had described him as her third son.
Nath is said to be disgruntled over not getting a Rajya Sabha berth and also Rahul Gandhi is understood to be upset with him since the party lost the assembly polls late last year.
Nath was replaced as the party's Madhya Pradesh unit chief following its rout in the assembly polls, in which the BJP retained power winning 163 seats in the 230-member House. The Congress managed to win just 66 seats.