'Ready to leave if you want to bid...': Kamal Nath to Congress workers at Chhindwara

"If you want to bid farewell to Kamal Nath, it's your choice. I am ready to leave. I don't want to impose myself. This is a matter of your choice," the former MP chief minister told the gathering.

With his announcement on Wednesday that he would be joining Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Gwalior on March 2, Congress veteran Kamal Nath put an end to the rumors surrounding his impending switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by telling the party workers he would not "impose" himself on them and would "leave" if they so desired.

The 77-year-old former Chief Minister, who still faces an uncertain future, spoke to a gathering of party workers in Harrai, his hometown of Chhindwara, and said he has been receiving their affection and trust for a long time.

“If you want to bid farewell to Kamal Nath, it’s your choice. I am ready to leave. I don’t want to impose myself. This is a matter of your choice,” the former MP chief minister told the gathering.

Nath holds the assembly seat for Chhindwara, while his son Nakul Nath is a member of the Lok Sabha representing the same district. It has already been declared by the senior Nath that Nakul will run for this seat again.

“We have to vote for securing the future and I have trust in all of you,” he said.

Nath also said he worshipped Lord Ram and constructed a big temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman on the land owned by him in Chhindwara. “We are religious people and keep our culture intact,” he said. 

Amid speculations that he might join the BJP, the veteran politician on Tuesday dismissed them as a "media creation".