Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon asks Chief Minister Kamal Nath to face floor test on March 16

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon on Saturday (March 14) asked Chief Minister Kamal Nath to face a floor test on Monday (March 16), the first day of the budget session of the Assembly.

"Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11 am with my address. Soon after that the only work to be done is voting on trust vote," Governor Tandon said in the letter.

Tandon passed the order hours after CM Kamal Nath wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging the latter ensure the "release" of 22 Congress MLAs held "captive" in Bengaluru.

“Please use your power as Union home minister so that 22 Congress MLAs held captive can safely reach Madhya Pradesh and participate in the Assembly session beginning from March 16 without any allurement and fear," Kamal Nath wrote in the four-page letter.

Sources said that pro-Kamal Nath Congress MLAs, who are currently in Jaipur, will leave for Bhopal on Sunday to participate in the floor test on Monday. A whip has also been issued by Madhya Pradesh Congress asking all its MLAs to be present in the Assembly from March 16 to April 13 during the session and vote in favour of the government during the floor test.

The political turmoil in Madhya Pradesh started after 22 Congress MLAs, loyalists of Jyotiraditya Scindia who quit the Congress to join the BJP, resigned from the Assembly, reducing the 15-month-old CM Kamal Nath's government to minority in the Assembly.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati on Saturday (March 14, 2020) terminated the membership of six rebel Congress MLAs, including Tulsiram Silawat, Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Govind Singh Rajput, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Imarti Devi and Prabhuram Chaudhary.

The termination of these MLAs has brought down the effective strength of the House to 222 and the Congress strength will now be reduced to 108 MLAs and with the support of four independents and two BSP and one SP MLAs the Congress still has a majority in the House as the magic number will be 112. On the other hand, the BJP just has 107 MLAs.