Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath has called a meeting of senior party leaders, including those who were cabinet ministers during his 18-month-old government, to form a shadow cabinet.

The meeting will be held at his residence on April 4, sources in the state Congress said.

It would be a shadow cabinet of the opposition Congress that will scrutinise the policies and actions of the state government. The leaders in the shadow cabinet will be assigned different ministries or departments to scrutinise projects and find out the irregularities and the actual status of the projects announced by the BJP government in the last two years.

"It would be a crucial meeting which all the senior leaders are expected to attend," said a senior Congress spokesperson.

Nath has been attacking the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in the state accusing it of making fake promises. Sources in the party told IANS that the shadow cabinet is a part of the preparation ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled in 2023.

In the meeting, the senior party leaders are also likely to discuss organisational polls, which are likely to be held in the next two-three months. This meeting has been called at the time when one after another senior Congress leaders, including Ajay Singh (Rahul) and Arun Yadav, recently met with the National Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. Therefore, amid a murmur of division among the senior party leaders, this meeting would be crucial to show unity.

Reacting to Nath's initiative, senior BJP leader and state home minister Narottam Mishra said: "It is not the first time when he (Kamal Nath) is talking about a shadow cabinet. He had said the same earlier also, but his shadow cabinet was never seen on the ground. He is a leader who believes in chairing meetings only, not on groundwork." (AS/IANS)

Keywords: BJP, Congress, Kamal Nath, Congress leaders, meeting, Shadow cabinet.