BJP to seek floor test on March 16 in Madhya Pradesh
BHOPAL: The BJP in Madhya Pradesh will seek a floor test on March 16 in the wake of 22 Congress MLAs resigning in the state, a senior BJP leader said on Thursday.
BJP leader Narottam Mishra told reporters in Bhopal that since the Congress Government is in minority, we are going to request the Governor and the Assembly Speaker for a floor test when the State Budget Session begins.
The 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led government has been facing a deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the
party on Tuesday.
“Since the government is in minority, we are going to request the governor and the Assembly Speaker for a floor test on March 16 when the state budget session begins,” BJP’s chief whip in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Narottam Mishra told reporters.
The governor and the speaker have the resignations of 22 MLAs. Now it is up to them to take a call, he said.”This government has lost the majority,” senior BJP leader former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said here.
While former Chief Minister and Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh said that floor test cannot take place as the resignations submitted by 19 MLAs have not been accepted. They should physically come before the Speaker and speak for themselves.
The Congress has a wafer-thin majority in the 228-member Assembly. Before the rebellion, its tally was 114.It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one from the SP, but some may now switch sides to the BJP.
If the resignations of the 22 MLAs are accepted, the strength of the Assembly will fall to 206.The Congress, on its own, will then be left with 92 seats, while the BJP has 107 seats with the magic number for a majority being 104.
Meanwhile, State Assembly Speaker NP Prajapati has also issued notices to 22 Congress MLAs who have resigned, asking them to appear before him by Friday and clarify their position, the officials informed today.
On the other hand, BJP leaders and workers gave a rousing welcome to Jyotiraditya Scindia, who arrived in the state capital first time today after quitting Congress and joining the BJP. After the grand welcome at the airport, he embarked on a roadshow. He will file a nomination for the Rajya Sabha election on the 13th of March.
Three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh, currently held by Digvijaya Singh and BJP leaders Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatiya are falling vacant next month. Both Congress and BJP are sure to win one seat each and a keen contest is likely for the third one.
The 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led Government has been facing a deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday.
The Congress has a wafer-thin majority in the 228-member Assembly. Before the rebellion, its tally was 114. It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one from the SP.
(Bureau REport with Agency Inputs ).
