Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Monday agreed to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s demand for a floor test in the Assembly after the saffron party claimed that the Congress government was now in minority.
“They [BJP] have been trying this since day one, I have proved majority at least four times in last five months,” Nath told ANI. “They want to do it again, we have no problem. They will try their best to disturb present government to save themselves from getting exposed. The government is ready for floor test.”
The BJP requested Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss pressing issues, Hindustan Times reported. News reports claimed that the BJP would ask the Congress government to prove its majority.
Leader of the Opposition Gopal Bhargava told ANI that the state government would collapse on its own. “I do not believe in horse-trading, but I feel its [end to Congress administration] time has come and it will have to go soon,” he added.
News agency PTI quoted Bhargava as saying that the saffron party wants to test the government’s strength.
BJP is trying to negate people’s mandate, claims Congress
Meanwhile, the Congress accused the BJP of attempting to destabilise the government with “corrupt practices”, PTI reported. “They are trying to negate the mandate of people of Madhya Pradesh given in favour of the Congress in the Assembly elections held a few months ago and people will not forgive them for this,” said Deepak Babariya, Congress general secretary in charge of the party’s affairs in Madhya Pradesh.
Babariya claimed that the BJP had lost the Assembly election in December because of its maladministration. The Congress was two short of a majority after the election, but formed the government with the help of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party. The Congress has 114 legislators in the 230-member Assembly, while the BSP has two and the Samajwadi Party one. The BJP has 109 MLAs.
Madhya Pradesh was one of the three BJP-ruled states that the Congress managed to win last year. The party replaced the BJP and formed the government in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as well.
However, Mayawati threatened to withdraw support to the Madhya Pradesh government in April after her candidate from Guna Lok Sabha seat joined the Congress. “The Congress will have to pay a heavy price for this when time comes,” she had said.
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