After getting the support of the BSP and SP as well to form government in Madhya Pradesh despite falling short of the half way mark, Congress's trio of Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh met Governor Anandiben Patel and staked their claim. The party legislators will meet later today to pick their chief minister as this will turn out to be a huge task for the Congress as the top three leaders have already expressed their wish to take charge at the office.
Earlier Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said that the BJP won't stake any claim to form the government in the state amid speculations that the party will make an attempt to raise claim despite finishing second behind the Congress with 109 seats in the 230-seat assembly.
Mr. Chouhan was speaking to the media persons after submitting his resignation to the Governor Anandiben Patel. The outgoing chief minister has congratulated the Congress leader G. Kamalnath, who is leading the race for the next CM's post.
The Congress team will meet the Governor soon and seek her permission to form the government after the BSP and SP publicly announced their support.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati assured support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to keep the BJP out of power. The Congress was short of the majority seats in both states, hence her support will take the Congress to cross the halfway mark in two states.
In the 230-seat Madhya Pradesh assembly, the Congress gained 114 seats, which are two seats short of the required 116 seats for majority while the BJP gained 114 seats. The BSP has won two seats in MP while got six in Rajasthan.
"Our aim is to keep the BJP out of power. And that is why we have decided to support the Congress in Madhya Pradesh", Mayawati said.
"We have decided to support the Congress in Rajasthan as well. We fought these elections to ensure that the BJP does not come back to power," said Mayawati.
