Chief Minister Kamal Nath today met Governor Lalji Tandon, in Bhopal amid of political crisis in the state triggered by the Jyotiraditya Scindia switching over to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The resignation of 22 rebel Congress MLAs 3 days ago, who are supposed to be Scindia loyalists.

The meeting came at a time when  the deadline is round-the-corner for the rebel MLAs to appear before Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati and hand over their resignation.

CM Nath, in his letter to the Governor, accused the BJP of “horse trading”. “I’m constrained to point out the immoral, unethical and illegal acts of Bharatiya Janta Party in Madhya Pradesh,” he said.

Nath requested Governor Lalji Tandon to conduct “floor test in the forthcoming session of the assembly on a date fixed by the Speaker” and  also urged Governor Lalji Tandon to “ensure release of MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru”.

After Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Congress on Tuesday and joined BJP on Wednesday, many of his supporters have started abandoning the party as well. Resignations have come from almost every part of Madhya Pradesh. So far hundreds of workers and party officials have put in their papers. Many leaders have started aspiring for a place in the BJP now after Scindia joined the party.

Scindia’s exit along with 22 other MLAs has brought a distressful political situation for Congress in Madhya Pradesh. The ruling Congress has alleged that 19 of the rebel Congress MLAs, including ministers, have been held “captive” by the BJP in a resort in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the opposition party.

Nath’s meeting with the governor comes amid unconfirmed reports that six ministers, said to be close to former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, will be coming to Bhopal from Bengaluru to hand over their resignation letters in person to the Assembly speaker.

The Congress party is going all out to reach out to the MLAs in Bengaluru and had also filed petitions before the speaker, seeking their disqualification.

In the 230 member assembly, with 120 MLAs, the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh has four more than the majority mark of 116, while the BJP has 104 MLAs.  With the the resignations of 22 MLAs, if accepted, one would need 104 MLAs to pass the majority test.

Both the parties are guarding their MLAs against any poaching attempts, with the Congress moving its remaining 94 MLAs to Jaipur, whereas, the BJP has kept its 102 MLAs in Gurgaon.

Meanwhile, after joining BJP on Wednesday, Scindia reached Bhopal on Thursday where he was welcomed by BJP workers of the state in an overwhelming roadshow. He will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat today as a BJP candidate.