The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday moved the Supreme Court after the Madhya Pradesh Assembly was adjourned till March 26 reportedly over the Coronavirus outbreak. A plea filed by 10 BJP MLAs including former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan in the Supreme Court wants the floor test to be done in 12 hours as per the direction issued by Governor Lalji Tandon.
The top court has agreed to hear on Tuesday BJP’s plea seeking floor test for Kamal Nath government.
The petition contended that despite the clear-cut directions issued by the Governor to Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek vote of confidence and prove his majority on the floor of the house on March 16, after the address by the Governor was over, the item for seeking the confidence vote has not been included in the business to be transacted on the floor of the House.
“The direction of the Governor is, thus, intentionally and wilfully been defied. The Chief Minister and his party leaders have publicly declined to conduct the floor test,” added the petition.
The plea said 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 the Speaker, the government led by Kamal Nath has been reduced to a minority.
“It has no moral, legal, democratic or constitutional right to remain in power even for a single day. All possible attempts are being made by the Hon’ble Chief Minister to convert his minority government into majority by giving all possible threats, allurements to the members of the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. The horse-trading is at its peak,” said the petition.
The plea urged the apex court that the floor test should be conducted on March 16, as already directed by the 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.”
Meanwhile, the BJP MLAs met the Governor at Raj Bhawan today after the adjournment of the Assembly and requested him to order for the conduct of the floor test at the earliest.
Senior party leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the Governor that “the government has lost majority and has no right to remain in power”.
The Governor assured them that “appropriate action will be taken” and “no one will violate their rights”.
The 15-month-old Kamal Nath government, which is on the verge of collapse, got a 10-day relief as the Madhya Pradesh Assembly was today adjourned till March 26 thereby putting off the floor test scheduled for today.
The adjournment came shortly after Governor Lalji Tandon finished his customary address and walked out of the House.
A face-off between Tandon and Kamal Nath was witnessed as the Governor before leaving the House warned: “All must follow the rules under the Constitution so that dignity of Madhya Pradesh remains protected.”
Ahead of the proceedings, Kamal Nath had written to Tandon saying that it “does not lie within the domain of the Governor to interfere with the functions of the Speaker”.
In a late-night move on Saturday, Governor Tandon had asked Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek trust vote on Monday, days after 22 Congress MLAs resigned from the Congress pushing into a crisis after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia revolted and joined the BJP.
Governor Lalji Tandon had also asked Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati to hold a floor test on Monday.
The Madhya Pradesh Assembly currently has 222 of 230 members and the majority mark is 112. The Congress has 108 MLAs in the House and the support of seven allied legislators. If the resignations of all 22 MLAs are accepted, the Congress’s strength will come way below the new majority mark of 104, and the BJP, with 107 MLAs, can form government.
Only six of the 22 resignations have been accepted by the Speaker.