Logo

Logo

Madhya Pradesh Governor asks Kamal Nath government to seek trust vote on Monday

Tandon further said that the floor test will have to be completed on March 16 and the exercise cannot be ‘deferred, delayed or suspended.’

Madhya Pradesh Governor asks Kamal Nath government to seek trust vote on Monday

Former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath. (File Photo: IANS)

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon asked Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek trust vote on Monday, in a late-night move on Saturday, days after 22 Congress MLAs resigned from the Congress pushing into a crisis  after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia revolted and joined the BJP.

The Governor asked Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati to hold a floor test on Monday. In his order he said, “The Madhya Pradesh Assembly’s session will commence at 16 March, 2020, at 11 am, and after my address to the assembly, the first work to be conducted will be voting on trust vote.”

Tandon further said that the floor test will have to be completed on March 16 and the exercise cannot be “deferred, delayed or suspended”.

Advertisement

“The division on the trust vote will take place by pressing the button, no other mode of voting will be acceptable,” he added.

Earlier, on March 13, Nath met with the Governor and had requested 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”.

The Governor mentioned the meeting with CM Nath and said, “You (Nath) have also mentioned in your letter dated March 13, 2020, that you are ready for the floor test. I have also received a letter from the main opposition BJP about these situations. They have also pointed that the state government is putting unnecessary pressure on the MLAs who have resigned and also on other legislators,” the letter read.

“Based on the above facts, prima facie, I believe that your government has lost the confidence of the House and it is in minority. This is a very serious issue and therefore as per the constitutional provisions and for protecting the democratic values, it is necessary that on March 16, soon after my address, you seek the trust vote in the Assembly,” it added.

Earlier, Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati on Saturday accepted the resignations of six Congress MLAs Tulsi Silawat, Govind Singh Rajput, Prabhuram Choudhry, Imarti Devi, Pradyumn Singh Tomar and Mahendra Singh Sisodia.

With the resignations accepted of the 6 Congress MLAs, now the 230 member assembly’s strength has gone down to 222 and the Congress has 108 MLAs and with the support of its allies it will have 7 more MLAs’ support. If the speaker accepts the resignation of the rest of the rebel MLAs Congress will be in minority and BJP with its 107 legislators will be the single largest party.

Meanwhile, the BJP  on Saturday submitted a memorandum to Governor  demanding a floor test by division of votes on Sunday before the budget session of the state Assembly starts on Monday.

Senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also said that the proceedings of the trust vote must be video-recorded.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Tandon, Chouhan said, “We have submitted a memorandum to the governor. Twenty-two MLAs have resigned. They have confirmed their resignations by issuing videos. Now the Nath government is in minority and does not have the constitutional right to continue.

“We have said there is no meaning to the governor’s address, no meaning to the budget session. Before the budget session, there should be a floor test,” he said.

Further, the trust vote must be held in the presence of an observer appointed by the governor and videographed, he said.

“We also demanded that the trust vote be held through division of votes and by pressing buttons and not by voice vote,” he said.

It must be held on Sunday, a day head of the budget session, he added.

The Kamal Nath government was luring, pressurising and threatening the kin of rebel MLAs and cases were being registered against the legislators themselves, he alleged.

“Our leader (Jyotiraditya) Scindia ji was attacked on Friday. MLAs (who resigned) have demanded security of Central forces and don’t want to return (from Bengaluru) without it,” he said.

The BJP delegation included Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava, former union ministers Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh and Rampal Singh.

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

Advertisement