Political circles were abuzz on Saturday with speculation about nine-time Congress MP and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath joining the BJP along with his son Nakul.

The duo fanned the speculation further with their own actions: the father would not reject the rumours and the son was said to have removed his association with the Congress from his profile on X.

After attending a party event in Chhindwara, father and son arrived in Delhi on Saturday afternoon.

Questioned by the media whether he was joining the BJP, Kamal Nath asked why the media was getting so excited. "If there is such a development, I will inform you first," he said.

Told that he was not denying the rumours, the former chief minister shot back: "It is not a question of denying. You are saying this. You are getting excited. I said I am not excited this way or that way. But, if there is such a development, I will inform you all first."

While there has been talk of Kamal Nath switching sides for a couple of weeks now, the Congress decision to send Ashok Singh to the Rajya Sabha is being cited as the immediate provocation.

However, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Jitu Patwari rejected this, saying Kamal Nath had himself suggested Ashok Singh’s name and that all the MLAs had backed the proposal because it had come from the veteran.

"It was a unanimous decision of all our leaders," he said.

Patwari also trashed the speculation about Kamal Nath leaving the Congress, saying it was unthinkable that someone whom Indira Gandhi had described as her third son would ever quit the party.

He lauded Kamal Nath as someone who stood by party workers in good times and bad, and always led from the front.

Digvijaya Singh, another Congress veteran from Madhya Pradesh, too rejected the speculation, saying he had spoken to Kamal Nath late on Friday night.

"He is someone who started his political career with the Nehru-Gandhi family and stood with Indira Gandhi when the Janata government sent her to jail. Can you expect such a person to ever leave the Gandhi family?" he said.

Congress leaders privately maintain that Kamal Nath has little reason to complain, having been allowed a free hand in Madhya Pradesh during the recent Assembly elections, where the party was routed.

Less than a month ago, the Congress had issued a showcause notice to spokesman Alok Sharma for alleging that Kamal Nath had been hand-in-glove with the BJP for the past five years.

Such was Kamal Nath’s clout that the Congress central leadership accepted his suggestion to shoot down the INDIA bloc’s proposal for a joint rally in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the state elections, puncturing the momentum the grouping had acquired.

Also accepted was his decision not to have any seat-sharing agreement in Madhya Pradesh. Such an agreement, party workers say, may have stopped the BJP’s sweep of the state.