MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan passes floor test in special session; Congress MLAs remain absent

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (File Photo: Facebook)


Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan passed the floor test in the state Assembly on Tuesday by voice vote, a day after assuming office.

None of the Congress MLAs,  party now in opposition, were present in the House.

In the special session of the state Assembly, reinstated CM Chouhan moved a one-line proposal to seek trust of the House, which was endorsed by members through the voice vote.

Senior BJP MLA Jagdish Devda, one of the members of the speaker’s panel, was on the chair of Speaker.

After Chouhan passed the floor test, the House was adjourned till March 27.

Earlier, the  BJP in the morning issued whip to its MLAs to support the trust vote.

Earlier, in a surprising move, Kamal Nath resigned resigned from the Chief Ministerial post before the floor test, last week after his government lost majority following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs. Now they have taken the primary membership of the BJP

After Assembly Speaker N P Prajapati accepted the resignation of the remaining 16 MLAs, the Kamal Nath government was struggling to prove its majority in the floor test which was due on Friday.

“I have accepted the resignation of the 16 MLAs who have filed petition in the Supreme Court. Based on what they have stated there, I am accepting resignation of these 16 MLAs also,” Prajapati said.

After the speaker accepted the resignation of 16 more MLAs, the strength of Congress came down to 92 from 108.

The political drama in Madhya Pradesh started after senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from party.

In his letter to Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, he wrote, “While my aim and purpose remain the same as it has always been from the very beginning, to serve the people of my state and country, I believe I am unable to do this anymore within this party.”

Right after Jyotiraditya Scindia moved from Congress to BJP,  Chauhan  had welcomed him to the “BJP family”.Scindia’s exited along with his loyalists.

Chouhan, 61, is back as Madhya Pradesh chief minister for a record fourth term.