Kamal Nath writes letter to Governor, clarifies stance on conducting floor test

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday wrote a letter to Governor Lalji Tandon clarifying his stance on conducting the floor test in the Assembly. He started his letter by stating, " After reading your letter dated 16 March 2020, I am sad that you have accused me of not following parliamentary norms.  I had no such intention." 

He added, "In your letter, you have mentioned that instead of proving the majority in the Assembly, I am hesitating for the floor test by writing to you. I want to bring to your notice that in the last 15 months, I have proved my majority in the Assembly several times. Now, if the BJP is alleging of me of not having a majority, they can get a floor test through the motion of no confidence."

According to the CM, once the Speaker takes action as per the guidelines, it will be proven that the Congress has the majority in the Assembly. 

Kamal Nath's allegations on BJP

In the letter, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh alleged the BJP of influencing and pressurizing the 16 Congress MLAs who were allegedly taken by the BJP to Bengaluru. He stated, "I would like to reassure that Congress MLAs of Madhya Pradesh should be allowed to remain independent and stay in their home for five-seven days in an open environment without any fear or pressure or influence so that they can make their decisions with an independent mind." 

Read: Rebel Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs seek deployment of central forces for their protection

Guv writes to CM

On Monday, the Madhya Pradesh governor Lalji Tandon has yet again written to Chief Minister Kamal Nath urging him to hold floor test on March 17, sources said. This came even as the assembly speaker adjourned the Madhya Pradesh assembly till March 26 citing coronavirus scare, earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the BJP moved the Supreme Court against the speaker. 

Read: Madhya Pradesh LIVE Updates: No floor-test; House adjourned till March 26 over coronavirus

Madhya Pradesh political crisis

The crisis in the Kamal Nath government started when Congress alleged BJP of poaching 4 MLAs - Surendra Singh Shera, Bisahulal Singh, Hardeep Singh Dang, and Raghuraj Kansana when they were flown to Bengaluru. While two of them have returned to Kamal Nath's folds, 18 MLAs including 6 Cabinet Ministers - loyal to Scindia flew to Bengaluru on Monday. Though Kamal Nath dissolved his cabinet, making 20 ministers resign on Monday night at an apparent cabinet rejig attempt, it failed and all 6 rebel cabinet ministers have been expelled.

In a major jolt to the Chief Minister, the former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia formally submitted his resignation to Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday. He then formally joined the BJP after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's residence along with former BJP party chief Amit Shah and has since then slammed the Congress saying 'it was not the same anymore'. He has since then been fielded by the BJP for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

Read: Kamal Haasan urges TN govt to take anti-Coronavirus steps; points at 4-5th week importance

Read: Rebel MP Congress MLAs embarrass CM Kamal Nath; thrash 'hostage' claim & praise Scindia