MP Assembly adjourned till March 26, BJP moves SC over trust vote

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly, which was expected to witness a trust vote on Monday (March 16), was adjourned till March 26 in view of the deadly coronavirus. Taking exception to the adjournment, the BJP moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to conduct the floor test.

Demanding the conduct of the floor test within 12 hours, the plea said, ” It is submitted that on account of lack of confidence and resignation of 22 MLAs of Congress party out of which the resignation of six MLAs having been already accepted by Speaker, the government led by Chief Minister Kamal Nath has been reduced to minority. It has no moral legal, democratic or constitutional rights to remain in power even for a single day.”

Alleging that the government is attempting to bbribe the legislators, the plea further said, “All possible attempts are being made by the Chief Minister to convert his minority government into majority by giving all possible threats, allurements to the members of Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. The horse trading is at its peak. Therefore, it is essential that the floor test is conducted on March 16 itself as already directed by Governor so that it becomes absolutely clear as to whether the chief minister continues to enjoy the confidence of the majority of the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.”

Besides Chouhan, nine other BJP MLAs, including Gopal Bhargava and Narottam Mishra, are the four petitioners in the case in which the state assembly speaker and Kamal Nath have been named as respondents.

Kamal Nath, taking on the BJP dared the saffron party to bring a no-confidence motion against his government. He said “If the BJP is demanding floor test and saying that we
don’t have majority, they should bring a no-confidence motion against my government. Why are they shying away (from bringing a no-confidence motion). We will prove our majority.”

in less than an hour of the House getting adjourned, BJP legislators, led by former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, landed in Raj Bhavan and demanded immediate floor test.

Earlier, Governor Lalji Tandon, while delivering his customary address ahead of the budget session, appealed to everyone to uphold “Parliamentary traditions and responsibilities in a peaceful manner.”

As soon as Tandon started speaking just after 11 am, chief whip of the BJP legislative party Narottam Mishra objected saying the governor has come to praise the government, which
the latter believes is in a minority. Tandon didn’t read out the entire address.

After reading for about two minutes the Governor left the House in the company of the speaker NP Prajapati.

However, there was uncertainty over the conduct of a floor test, as per the directive of Governor Lalji Tandon, with Chief Minister Kamal Nath asking for its postponement, in view of Congress MLAs being allegedly kept captive by the BJP.

Kamal Nath also wrote to the Governor saying that a floor test  was impossible on the ground that congress MLAS were being held in captivity by the BJP.

Governor Lalji Tandon had on Saturday (March 14) night directed Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the House immediately after he delivers his customary address on the first day of the Budget session beginning Monday.

Nath, who met the Governor on Sunday late night, said that the decision on a floor test will be taken by the Speaker.

The 22 MLAs of the Congress who had resigned might not return to Bhopal on Monday from Bengaluru where they are camping, sources close to BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday morning. Scindia’s break away from the Congress last week triggered a political crisis in the state.

The rebel MLAs, including six ministers, have already resigned from the membership of the Assembly and there is no point in coming back at this point, they said. Of the 22 MLAs, at least 19 MLAs had e-mailed their resignation letters to the governor from Bengaluru on March 10.

Speaker NP Prajapati had accepted resignations of six of the 22 MLAs. He, however, remained non-committal on holding a floor test.

Related news: MP CM Kamal Nath calls on governor, Speaker to decide on floor test

Interestingly, holding of a floor test found no mention in the List of Business (LoB) issued by the state Assembly secretariat on Sunday night.

The LoB mentioned only about the Governors customary address on the first day of the Budget session and the motion of thanks.

Referring to this, BJP national vice president Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Kamal Nath has very innocently said that it is the job of the speaker to conduct floor test, while the
fact is that it is the government which decides the business of the House”.

“The governor had ordered the chief minister to seek the trust vote after his customary address. Tandon has written the letter to you (Nath) and not to the Speaker,” he told
reporters on Sunday late night.

Chouhan said that with the resignations of 22 MLAs, the Nath government was reduced to a minority.

“The government must table a proposal for holding a floor test in the House and the speaker should ensure that it will be conducted,” the former chief minister demanded.

On Sunday late night, MLAs of the BJP returned to Bhopal from Manesar in Haryana. The MLAs of the Congress had also returned from Jaipur.

(With inputs from agencies)