MP Governor asks Kamal Nath to face floor test tomorrow
Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon on Monday asked Chief Minister Kamal Nath to face a floor test in the state Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. The development comes hours after the Nath-led Congress government in MP had dodged the floor test, with the Assembly session being adjourned till March 26 over the coronavirus outbreak. The Opposition had accused the Congress of stalling the trust vote.
According to ANI, Governor Tandon has written to the CM saying, "Conduct the floor test on March 17, otherwise, it will be considered that you actually don't have the majority in the state Assembly." The Governor had earlier raised doubts about the Congress government's ability to prove its majority in the state Assembly, after the resignation of 22 party MLAs.
After Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the party last week, 22 MLAs loyal to him also tendered their resignations. The 22 rebel legislators included six ministers, whose resignation has been accepted. 19 rebel Congress MLAs were camped at a Bengaluru resort in BJP-ruled Karnataka. The ruling Congress accused the Opposition BJP of horse-trading MLAs in a bid to overthrow the government.
The Nath government initially had 120 MLAs in the 230-member MP Assembly (effective strength 228). The majority mark was 116. After the resignations of six ministers were accepted, the Assembly strength dropped to 222, and the majority mark to 112. If the resignations of the remaining MLAs are also accepted, the majority mark would come down to 104 and the Congress could lose majority.
The floor test was supposed to be held earlier today, however, MP Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati remained non-committal on conducting the trust vote. Eventually, the Assembly session was adjourned till March 26 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Experts warn that large gatherings could facilitate the spread of the virus. The BJP—which displayed the support of 106 MLAs before the Governor—accused the Congress of stalling.
Accusing the Congress of "running away" as it does not have a majority, the Opposition BJP filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a floor test within 12 hours. The court will hear the matter tomorrow. BJP's three-term chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "Corona won't save Kamal Nath's government. He has clearly lost his majority, so he avoided a trust vote today."
