New govt in MP in 10 days, says BJP; Digvijaya says rebel MLAs are 'captive'

As the shock and euphoria over Jyotiraditya Scindia quitting the Congress and joining the BJP starts to settle, the issue of the longevity of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh in the face of resignations by 22 party MLAs has come into sharp focus.

A buoyed BJP sharpened its attack on the Kamal Nath government, saying that it is now in minority and immediate floor test should be undertaken to clear the situation. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati issued notices to 13 of the 22 MLAs who have resigned to personally appear before him.

Ex-chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the governor's customary address to start the proposed budget session from March 15 doesn't make sense now as the government is clearly in minority and cannot convene the session at all. “The floor test should be held first,” Chouhan demanded.

BJP's Narottam Mishra, ex-legislative affairs minister and a key player in the current turmoil, said his party will demand a floor test on March 16 and the government was sure to collapse. “We will have a new government in Madhya Pradesh in 8-10 days,” he said.

Countering this, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who filed his Rajya Sabha nomination papers on Thursday, said that the Congress was ready for a floor test, echoing what Kamal Nath said.

But Digvijaya added that floor test was not required or possible until the resignation of the 22 MLAs was accepted by the speaker. “And for the resignations to be accepted, the MLAs who resigned have to present themselves before the speaker and assure him that they were resigning without duress,” Digvijaya said.

He added that this is more important because despite claims of the BJP that it had nothing to do with the turmoil, the resignations of 19 MLAs in Bengaluru were presented by BJP ex-minister Bhupendra Singh. “Actually, the MLAs are being held captive. Their mobile phones have been confiscated and they are not even allowed to speak to their family members. If they are not held captive, let them appear before the speaker. If they stand by their resignations, we will accept it,” Digvijaya said.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha declared on Thursday “legal action, if required, will be taken to get in touch with the MLAs, who are held captive in Bengaluru”.

Meanwhile, photographs of the MLAs who are in Bengaluru, having lunch together, purportedly on Thursday, were released by the supporters of Scindia.

Floor test scenarios

In the current situation, if the resignations of the 22 MLAs are accepted, the strength of the 228-member house (2 seats are vacant) will come down to 206. The majority mark will then stand at 104 and the BJP, with 107 members, is likely to vote the government out.

Even if resignations are not accepted, though the speaker has to take a decision on the resignations within seven days, and the 22 MLAs remain absent, the house will go by present majority and the same situation mentioned in the first scenario will emerge.

Along with independents, BSP and SP members, the Congress has support of just 99 MLAs after the 22 MLAs' resignations. The speaker's vote will be counted only in special case, or else the figure will be 98 at most.

Experts say that unless Congress is able to convince its members who resigned to come back or engages in horse-trading with BJP MLAs, it is not likely to save the government. Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and others have repeatedly maintained that they are confident of proving their numbers on the floor of the house.