No floor test listed in Assembly: Can Congress pull off a great escape in Madhya Pradesh?

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after the governor's address in the House today. But, the floor test found no mention in the List of Business (LoB) issued by the state Assembly secretariat on Sunday night. The LoB has mentioned only the governor's customary address on the first day of the budget session, and the motion of thanks. The Congress-led government was pushed to the brink following the resignation of 22 MLAs, who are believed to be loyalists of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who defected to the BJP. 

After the LoB was released on Sunday night, leader of opposition from the BJP, Gopal Bhargava, rushed to meet the governor. "The Congress government wants to evade the floor test. This is unconstitutional as the governor has issued clear directives that the Kamal Nath should seek trust vote just after his [governor's] address [to the House] on Monday. We have conveyed to the governor that the agenda of the state Assembly for Monday doesn't include holding of floor test, and he assured me that a suitable action will be taken," Bhargava said.

The opposition BJP, claiming that the Congress-led government had lost majority, had pushed for immediate floor test. A delegation of the party met the governor on Saturday to make a demand in this regard. The BJP leaders said that a government in minority does not have the constitutional right to convene a budget session or get the governor's address delivered.

What the governor stipulated

Governor Lalji Tandon had sent a letter to the chief minister with regard to the floor test on Saturday night. A letter from the governor was sent to the chief minister in this regard around midnight, a Raj Bhawan official told PTI. "I came to know that 22 MLAs have sent their resignations to the MP Assembly speaker and they have also informed about it on electronic and print media. I have seen the coverage on both media with attention," the letter, dated March 14, said.

The governor had stipulated that the floor test should be completed today and cannot be adjourned, delayed or suspended. "Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11am with my address. Soon after that, the only work to be done is the trust vote," the governor said in the letter. The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes, and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons. 

Can the Congress evade the trust vote?

The coronavirus outbreak and the adjournment of assemblies across the country could play a major role in hindering the trust vote. A Congress cabinet minister from Madhya Pradesh told The Print: “It is unlikely that the floor test will take place tomorrow. As there is a huge coronavirus scare, and while the Odisha, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala assemblies are getting adjourned, it makes no sense to continue it in Madhya Pradesh. It is a major threat and hence the house may be adjourned on this account too.”

Speaker P.N. Prajapati, according to The Indian Express, dubbed as “hypothetical” a question on whether the trust vote would take place on Monday and said that he was more concerned about the spread of the coronavirus.

Notably, in his letter, the governor had said that during the trust vote, there should only be raising of hands and that no other method should be adopted. 

The speaker of the House can act according to his discretion, experts said. Former minister and an expert on legislative matters, Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi told PTI: "Governor is the head of the state while speaker is the head of the Assembly, who has all powers vested in him. A speaker works as per his discretion and according to the rules and procedures of the House". Chaturvedi opined that the governor should not have ordered a floor test without physically verifying the resignations of the 22 MLAs. Chaturvedi opined that the governor should not have ordered a floor test without physically verifying the resignations of the 22 MLAs. "How can the governor be confident that the letters of these MLAs are genuine and are not written under any pressure," he asked. 

How do the numbers stack up?

After the Speaker accepted the resignation of six Congress MLAs on Saturday, the party now has 108 legislators. But, these numbers include 16 rebel legislators who have also put in their papers, but their resignations are yet to be accepted. The BJP has 107 seats in the House which now has an effective strength of 222, with the majority mark being 112. To add to the ruling Congress' woes, it is yet uncertain whether it will continue getting the support of four independents, two BSP MLAs and one MLA from the SP.

-Inputs from PTI