There’s a strong buzz that Kamal Nath may switch to the BJP in a fresh jolt to the Congress ahead of the national elections, with sources close to him telling NDTV that he is “unhappy” with the party.

The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister arrived in Delhi on Saturday, adding fuel to the speculations. But he hasn’t met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and has only heard BJP state leaders like VD Sharma saying he is welcome to join their party, sources said.

The people in Chhindwara – which Mr Nath has represented nine times in Lok Sabha – want him to join the BJP to ensure better development and the matter is under his consideration, sources said.

The constituency is now represented by Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath, who is also being speculated to join the BJP along with his father. Nakul Nath had removed ‘Congress’ from his social media bio, leading to the mega crossover buzz yesterday, but sources said his bio never mentioned the party’s name.

Kamal Nath’s Delhi trip comes at a time BJP is holding a two-day national council, being attended by top leaders from across the country.

Read | Can Indiraji’s “Third Son” Ever Leave Party? Congress Leader On Kamal Nath

He hasn’t resigned from Congress, but feels the party isn’t the same that he had joined five decades ago and has conveyed his unhappiness to the leadership, the sources said.

“He feels that Rahul Gandhi is busy with the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and the party is now being run by the likes of senior leaders Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, and Randeep Surjewala,” the sources said.

They also ruled out that his unhappiness was over not being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, and said senior leader Digvijaya Singh had requested him not to leave the party.

The Congress has denied reports that Mr Nath will end his long association with the party, stressing that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had called him her “third son” while campaigning for him in 1979.

“Can you think even in a dream that Indira Gandhi’s ‘third son’ will quit the Congress? Can he think of leaving the workers who fought the Assembly elections under his leadership and worked tirelessly to try and make him the chief minister,” said Jitu Patwari, who had replaced him as the state Congress chief after the party’s election setback last year.

Kamal Nath’s switchover would deliver a major blow to the Congress ahead of the national elections. The grand old party is already reeling from a string of high-profile exits, the latest being former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who joined the BJP earlier this week.

Mr Nath’s exit will leave the party vulnerable in Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress had won just one seat in 2019 elections.

His former colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia, now a Union Minister, had crossed over to the BJP after a mega revolt that had brought down the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh in 2020.

Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha occupied the prestigious fifth position in India in terms of popularity rating among the Chief Ministers, according to a recent survey aimed at gauging the acceptability of the leaders.

The survey aimed to gauge the popularity and acceptability of the country’s chief ministers, unveiling some intriguing results.

According to the survey, Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik topped the list with a remarkable popularity rating of 52.7 percent. Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath secured the second position with a 51.3 percent popularity rating.

The third spot is held by Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who garnered a 48.6 percent rating, while the fourth position is occupied by Gujarat’s Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, with a 42.6 percent rating.

Dr Manik Saha, with a commendable 41.4 per cent popularity rating, highlighting his significant acceptance and approval among the citizens of Tripura and beyond.

Following the survey, the people of Tripura praised Chief Minister Saha for his simplicity, dedication, honesty, and the developmental strides made under his leadership. Residents commended him for being a compassionate leader who shares in their joys and sorrows.

Meanwhile, a local of Tripura who runs a shop and a businessman praised Chief Minister Saha and said, “Chief Minister Saha is very honest, and always works at the grassroots level. He is always there to solve any type of problem”.

Another shopkeeper Debabrata Chakraborty said that he is very fortunate to be a native of Tripura while emphasizing the positive impact on the state’s gradual development.

“We are in very good condition under the leadership of Chief Minister Manik Saha. Under his guidance, each and every person in Tripura is gradually developing,” Deepak Debnath a shop owner in Kashipur said.

A businessman from Agartala Basudeb Chakraborty said that Chief Minister Saha is working for the development of the people of Tripura.

“I had heard that our Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha had been ranked in the 5th position in popularity. It’s very true, as he is very honest, he always interacts with everyone and is committed to the well- being and progress of the people. According to me, he must be in the 1st position,” he added.

“Our Chief Minister Manik Saha is greatly working on his work. He is always delightful and devoted to God. He takes care of every person in the state. He is honest,” Vakti Kamal Saint Maharaj, Jagannath Jew Mandir, Agartala said.

Prof. Jagadish Gan Choudhary said that he is feeling proud of this survey, adding that it is a matter of respect for Tripura.

“I feel that the present Chief Minister Saha is the most popular and best. He is a very simple person, active and dedicated towards his work. He serves the people of Tripura very sincerely and honestly. Among so many Chief Ministers he is the best,” Asutosh Ranjan Ghosh, a Retired Government employee said.

A social activist, Bipin Debbarma said that Chief Minister Saha has been working for all classes of people, especially for the tribal people.

“For the last 25 years, we hadn’t seen such common people taking so much facilities from the Chief Minister. He always thinks about the development of the Janajati people of Tripura, and how to develop them from the grassroot level he is working on continuously,” he added.

Moreover, Durjay Kumar Chowdhury, a shop owner said that Chief Minister Saha has boosted the infrastructure development in the state.

“Manik Saha has been successfully working for the development of the state. He is working on various developmental projects that we haven’t seen in the last 25 years of rule of another political party,” he added.

Earlier in March 2023, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manik Saha, a dentist-turned-politician who steered the party to power in Tripura, took oath as the Chief Minister of the state for the second consecutive term.

Manik Saha, who led the BJP to victory, is a dental surgeon who joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting Congress. He was made party chief of the state in 2020 and elected to Rajya Sabha in March 2022.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

India should not be criticised for having multiple options, asserted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday when asked about the country’s foreign policy priorities in the backdrop of observations that it is traversing from “non-alignment to all alignment”.

His remarks came at an interactive session at a security conference in Munich in the presence of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

While putting the question, the moderator specifically mentioned India’s continuing procurement of crude oil from Russia notwithstanding Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Why should it be a problem? I am smart enough to have multiple options. You should be admiring and not criticising. Is it a problem for others? I do not think so,” he said.

In that context, Mr Jaishankar explained the different pulls and pressures countries face, adding that different nations have different histories and challenges and it is very hard to have a unidimensional relationship.

“I do not want you, even inadvertently, to give the impression that we are purely and unsentimentally transactional. We are not. We get along with people, we believe in things, we share things…but there are times when you are located in different places, different levels of development, different experiences, all of that gets into it,” he explained.

“So life is complicated, life is differentiated,” he said.

“Good partners provide choices, smart partners take some of those choices” Mr Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister also described the October 7 attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas as “terrorism” but at the same time, referring to Tel Aviv’s response, said Israel has an international obligation to observe the humanitarian law. He also highlighted India’s long-held position of a “two-state solution” on the Palestine issue.

Israel has been continuing its military offensive in Gaza as part of its retaliation to the unprecedented attack on Israeli cities by Hamas on October 7. India strongly condemned the terror attack by Hamas and has been calling for de-escalation of the situation.

To a question, the External Affairs Minister said the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India- China-South Africa) grouping started in an era when Western dominance was very strong.

Mr Jaishankar said last year, around 30 countries showed interest in being part of BRICS as they saw value in it. There must be something good we have done, he said.

“I think it is important today to make a distinction between being non-West and anti-West. I would certainly characterise India as a country which is non-West but which has extremely strong relations with the Western countries that is getting better by the day,” he added.