This move of the former chief minister the central state is giving rise to the notion that the two leaders were unable to mend their differences and this is adjudged to reduce, in the coming time, the relevance of the Nath. An office bearer in the state said, “Earlier Nath had said that he would be in the Yatra all the time but he went there only once. After that, he is not been seen anywhere close to the Yatra. Jitendra Bhanwar Singh (in charge of Madhya Pradesh) was asked about it in a press conference, he replied that Nath is in hospital to attend to his sister who hasn’t been well. Moreover, there are a lot of things happening. People in Chhindwara are saying that we will remain in the party and contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, our leaders are not trusting them. Even BJP has not declared a Lok Sabha candidate on Chhindwara seat.”
He further added, “When there was Rahul’s speech, Kamal Nath was sitting far away from him and they did not share glances much. Even Nakul Nath seemed distanced. But nothing is confirmed until an official statement about anything comes. It is just a political flux that suggests Nath’s downfall for now.” In addition to that, AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul were scheduled to meet all 66 party MLAs after the rally to discuss Lok Sabha polls. However the six Chhindwara MLAs were missing on all six days of Nyay Yatra in the state. Nakul joined Yatra only on the first day. Moreover, other senior leaders also say that Kamal Nath (who is currently 77) is worried about the remainder of his life as a politician and may be contemplating a decision to keep himself relevant if there is no response to accommo- date him by the top leadership of the party.
Moreover, there are speculations about future moves of Nath and his son Nakul Nath, who is the Lok Sabha member from Chhindwara, although both of them have said they do not intend to cross over to the BJP. Furthermore, the saffron camp has announced candidates for 24 of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in MP. However Chhindwara is among the five that remain. Out of the total 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP bagged 28 in the 2019 general elections while the Congress won only the Chhindwara seat. BJP is further looking to wrest Chhindwara that is still an impregnable Congress fortress courtesy Kamal Nath. Recently seven corporators of Kamal Nath’s party from the Chhindwara Municipal Corporation in Madhya Pradesh have joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. These leaders, according to political observers, could have sensed Nath’s political ceasure and his lack of acceptance among leaders at centre. A political observer said, “If a lead- er knows that their Godfather is no more the Godfather and cannot further their interests, they will leave and find an- other Godfather. Such could be the matter with Kamal Nath.
If he is telling his leaders to join BJP, then he could also join the saffron camp. But if they are switching to BJP without his ascent then he surely has lost touch with centre and is left to fend for himself. Which further suggests that this is the end for him in Congress, unless Rahul wants him back.”