Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath wished his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chauhan on the latter's birthday amid the political crisis in the Congress-ruled state but fingers are crossed over the headcount of Congress legislators as four 'rebel' MLAs are still said to be missing from Bhopal and are not in touch with the party.

"There are three Congress MLAs and one independent MLA who have been flown from Manesar to Bengaluru," alleged Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. The MLAS are said to be at a resort in Bengaluru at Whitefield and all the villas have been booked there by the supporters of the BJP.

Congress has told its local leaders to get in touch with the MLAs but in vain. The Congress has also asked Karnataka leader D.K. Shivakumar to locate the MLAs and connect with the leadership in Delhi and Bhopal. The four MLAs are said to be strong Congress loyalists and they will be pacified, said a senior party leader.

The Congress has alleged that Chief Minister Kamal Nath has tightened the noose on mining and liquor mafia and that is why the BJP is rattled, alleged Surjewala. The Congress is upset because the Rajya Sabha election is approaching and Congress is supposed to win two seats if everything goes according to plan.

But if there is crossvoting then the path of the second candidate will be tough as the government of Madhya Pradesh is surviving on a razor-thin majority. The Chief Minister is not leaving Bhopal and the party is trying to cultivate disgruntled BJP MLAs two of whom have earlier been with the Congress and have voted with the ruling dispensation.

Suspended BSP MLA Rambai was "brought back" by Congress leaders Jitu Patwari and senior party leader Digvijaya Singh's son Jai Vardhan Singh, from a luxury resort in Gurugram to Bhopal on Wednesday. Back in her constituency, Rambai refuted the allegations made by the Congress that several of its MLAs were taken to Delhi in a chartered flight.

She said, "My daughter was unwell and I had booked a flight to Delhi a week before. A former minister and BJP MLA was also in the same plane. But I had no discussions with him, only the customary greetings were exchanged. This is totally wrong that I went with the BJP MLA to Delhi."

Digvijaya Singh had alleged that the BJP was trying to destabilise the Congress government in the state and was trying to "buy" MLAs.

The Congress has now assigned Digvijaya Singh to keep the flock together along with the Chief Minister as majority of the MLAs in the state are staunch Digvijaya followers as he has also been Chief Minister of the state twice.