BJP not interested in toppling Congress government in MP: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Kolkata: BJP vice president Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said his party is not interested in toppling the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, but they cannot take the responsibility for the "infighting and corruption" within the Kamal Nath-led dispensation, "which might lead to its downfall".

Speaking on a recent incident in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao involving Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, Chouhan said the lawmaker was suspended from the party and arrested by the police.

"From the very beginning, we have categorically maintained that we are not interested in toppling the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, but we cannot take any responsibility for the infighting and corruption in the state government, which might lead to its downfall," he said.

"After the (state Assembly) election results were out, we saw that although we had a higher vote share, none of us (BJP and Congress) could reach the majority mark. But we decided that we will not stake claim to form the government, although some independents and smaller parties were ready to support us. I had said that the Congress should get the first chance to form the government," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.

Referring to the recent fall of the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka, he said it was due to the grand old party that the government did not last in the southern state and the BJP had no role in it.

"Congress was behind the fall of the government in Karnataka. We (BJP) had no role in it. We just wanted a stable government in Karnataka. If you go through the history of the Congress, you will see that they have never respected coalition dharma," Chouhan said.

Karnataka BJP president BS Yediyurappa was sworn-in as the chief minister of the southern state for the fourth time on Friday, days after the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy-led Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government.

Speaking on the Unnao incident, Chouhan said, "We would never tolerate such unethical, immoral and criminal activities in our party. Stern action will be taken irrespective of the person and his stature. The MLA accused in the case has been arrested and has been suspended by the party."

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked BJP MLA Sengar and nine others on the charge of murder in connection with a truck-car collision in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli that killed two women and left a 19-year-old woman, who had accused the legislator of raping her in 2017, critically injured.

Lauding the passage of the "triple talaq" bill in Parliament on Tuesday, Chouhan said it was indeed a historic feat for the country and criticised the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the ruling party in West Bengal, for not supporting the bill in order to pursue its "appeasement policies".