The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath and his government over a petition filed by the BJP seeking a trust vote in the assembly.

The top court will hear the case again on Wednesday.

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Monday said that he had the numbers after his Congress government was asked by the Governor to prove its majority by Tuesday, hours after it got a 10-day breather with the Madhya Pradesh Assembly being adjourned till March 26 reportedly over the Coronavirus outbreak.

Following this, the Madhya Pradesh BJP unit, led by Shivraj Singh Chauhan, filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking an order to the MP Assembly Speaker to hold a floor test within 12 hours, as per the direction issued by Governor Lalji Tandon.

The Madhya Pradesh BJP has cited the Supreme Court’s decisions in eight cases to establish the primacy of a floor test where it is prima facie proven that the incumbent government does not enjoy the confidence of the legislature, and there should be a test of strength on the floor of the Assembly.

The BJP in its petition claimed that the direction of the Governor is being intentionally and wilfully defied by the Kamal Nath government.

The BJP MLAs also met the Governor at Raj Bhawan 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”.

Following this, in a letter to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Governor Lalji Tandon said: “If you don’t take a floor test by March 17, it will be assumed that you have lost your majority.”

After the governor’s directive, Nath rushed to meet him at Raj Bhavan, where he assured Tandon to have the numbers on his side. The chief minister also dared the opposition BJP to table a no-confidence motion if they wanted to test his government’s strength in the house.

The 15-month-old Kamal Nath government is on the verge of collapse after 22 Congress MLAs resigned from the Congress pushing into a crisis after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia revolted and joined the BJP.

Meanwhile, no floor test in Madhya Pradesh Assembly is likely to take place today as well even after the Governor’s fresh directive.

The Congress MLAs who had been camping in Jaipur amid the political crisis returned to Bhopal on Sunday. Sources say they will remain in Bhopal until the party decides for the next course of action and will not be sent back to Jaipur after the house was adjourned till March 26.

BJP has also decided to keep its MLAs in Bhopal and its earlier plan to send them to Gurugram was abandoned, sources said. The MLAs have been kept in a hotel in Bhopal.