The future of the Madhya Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Kamal Nath is likely to be decided on the first day of the budget session that begins today.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hit out at the Kamal Nath government, saying that they had lost the majority. “That is why they are running away from it, we will ask govt to bring a confidence motion tomorrow. Chief Minister has said he wants a floor test, then why is he not doing it? Our only demand is a floor test,” he told news agency ANI.
Hitting out at Kamal Nath, Chouhan added, "Governor has ordered government to conduct floor test in the assembly after his address. Chief Minister is saying it's up to the Speaker & not him, what happens in the assembly is decided by govt, Speaker works on what is decided by govt."
Earlier, Kamal Nath called on Governor Lalji Tandon late on Sunday night.
Coming out of the Raj Bhavan around 12.20 am, Nath told reporters that the governor had called him for a discussion.
"The governor told me that the proceedings of the state assembly should be carried out smoothly. So I told him that I will talk to the speaker in this regard on Monday morning," he said.
Asked if the floor test will be conducted on Monday as directed by the governor, the chief minister said the speaker will take a decision on this.
Nath said he has already communicated to the governor in writing that his government is ready for the floor test but the MLAs held "captive" should be released first.
After 22 Congress MLAs submitted their resignations last week, Tandon had on Saturday directed Nath to seek a trust vote just after his (governor's) address on the first day of the Budget session beginning Monday.
The Congress alleges that these 22 MLAs who submitted their resignations are being held "captive" by the BJP.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker N P Prajapati has accepted the resignations of six of these MLAs.
Last week, former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress and formally joined the BJP. This began the downward spiral for the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. However, Kamal Nath is confident that he will clear the floor test.
