Deepak Saxena, former MP minister and Nath loyalist told reporters in Chhindwara he was hurt by the way the latter was removed as state unit chief following the Assembly debacle.

“We want out leader to be accorded all respect. Whatever decision he takes, we will be with him,” Saxena said.

Another Nath loyalist, former state minister Vikram Verma, wrote ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in his X profile.

“I will follow Kamal Nath,” Verma, a former MP, had told reporters on Saturday.

Efforts were on by the Nath camp to get the support of 23 MLAs so that anti-defection laws don’t apply to them, party insiders claimed.

The Congress has 66 seats in the 230-member Assembly.

“In case one-third of the MLAs switch over, then anti-defection laws will not apply,” MP High Court advocate Rakesh Pandey told PTI.

Incidentally, in March 2020, another senior leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and several MLAs loyal to him had switched over to the BJP, which brought down the Congress government led by Nath.