Kamal Nath, son Nakul Nath decide to quit Congress, confirms party MP Kumar Ketkar

Lucknow: Congress veteran Kamal Nath and his MP son Nakul Nath have decided to quit the grand old party, Congress MP Kumar Kumar, who recently retired from Rajya Sabha, confirmed the development to NewsDrum on Saturday amid speculations that the duo along with several other leaders are tipped to join the BJP. 

Earlier on Saturday, Nakul Nath dropped Congress from his bio on social media. 

Also read: 'Kamal' to have a new 'Nath' in BJP amid resistance from party leaders

Nakul Nath's move had added fuel to rumours swirling for the last few days that he, along with his father, are defecting to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The bio of Nakul Kamal Nath on X now identifies him only as a Member of Parliament, Chhindwara (MP).

Amid the speculations, the senior Nath arrived in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon and said if there would be any such thing, he would inform the media first.

In his brief interaction with reporters, he asked them not to get excited.

Nakul is the MP from Chhindwara, the pocket borough of Kamal Nath, who had represented the constituency nine times in the past.

Kamal Nath, the sitting MLA from the Chhindwara seat, was removed as MP Congress chief in the wake of the Congress' crushing defeat at the hands of BJP in the last Assembly elections.

He is said to be disgruntled over not getting a Rajya Sabha berth and also Rahul Gandhi has been opposed to him since the party lost the assembly polls late last year.

Though speculations about Kamal Nath's shift have 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 the 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 told reporters.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats, except Chhindwara.