The Supreme Court of India will hear the petition filed by the BJP seeking a floor test in the Madhya Pradesh State Assembly on March 17.
Accusing the Kamal Nath-led-government of avoiding the trust vote, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Madhya Pradesh govt has lost its majority, that is why they are running away from it, we will ask govt to bring a confidence motion. Chief Minister has said he wants a floor test, then why is he not doing it? Our only demand is a floor test.”
He added, “The Chief Minister is running away from the trust vote as he knows that the government lacks a majority. BJP has the majority and we have appealed the Governor to order floor test at the earliest. He has assured us to protect our constitutional rights.” BJP MLAs were also paraded before the Governor, Lalji Tandon.
On Sunday, Kamal Nath said, “I have told Governor that I am ready for the floor test and the MLAs who have been held captive should be released. I will speak to the Speaker about the floor test,” he said. In a letter to the Governor, he alleged that on March 10, BJP leaders reached the Speaker’s residence to hand over the resignation letter of the rebel MLAs. “None of the 19 MLAs was present to tender resignation at the speaker’s residence,” the letter alleged.
Earlier today, the Governor had addressed the assembly and stated, “All must follow the rules under the Constitution so that dignity of Madhya Pradesh remains protected.”
The political drama in Madhya Pradesh has come to an abrupt anti-climax as the assembly session has been adjourned for ten days till March 26 in the wake of the Coronavirus scare. The floor test that was scheduled today by Governor Lalji Tandon has been postponed for now too. The BJP was thus forced to reach out to the Supreme Court.