Two Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs on Wednesday voted in favour of the Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government in the state Assembly. Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kaul voted for an amendment to the criminal procedure code in Madhya Pradesh.
“This is my ghar wapsi [homecoming],” Tripathi, who had switched from the Congress to the BJP in 2014, announced after the vote, the Hindustan Times reported.
The development came hours after an argument between Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava in the Assembly. Bhargava had claimed that the Congress government will not last even 24 hours if the BJP’s top leadership wishes so, according to The Indian Express.
“If there is an order from our number 1 and number 2, your government will not last for 24 hours,” Bhargava said, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. To this, Nath said, “Your number 1 and number 2 are smart”, suggesting that his government is stable and the BJP will not make any attempts to destabilise it. Nath also said he was ready to face a confidence motion at any time.
Bhargava was referring to the collapse of the coalition government in Karnataka.
“The BJP says daily that we are a minority government and one which could fall any day,” Kamal Nath said after the vote. “However, during voting in the Assembly on criminal law amendment bill, two BJP MLAs voted in favour of our government.”
Tripathi and Kaul have since been sent to an undisclosed location by the Congress, ANI reported.
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