MP: Shivraj Chouhan says CM Kamal Nath has lost majority, running away from floor test

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Kamal Nath-led Congress government has lost its majority and is running away from the floor test in the state assembly. He asked the government to bring a confidence motion in the House on Monday. Chouhan made the comments after CM Kamal Nath on Sunday met Governor Lalji Tandon at Raj Bhavan in Bhopal.

"The Madhya Pradesh government has lost its majority. That is why they are running away from it. We will ask the government to bring a confidence motion tomorrow (Monday). The Chief Minister has said he wants a floor test. Then why is he not doing it? Our only demand is a floor test," Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters in Bhopal.

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He further said that Governor Tandon has ordered the government to conduct a floor test in the assembly after his address. "The Chief Minister is saying it is up to the Speaker and not him. What happens in the assembly is decided by the government. The Speaker works on what is decided by the government," Chouhan said.

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Kamal Nath says ready for floor test

The BJP leader made the remarks after Kamal Nath said he is ready for a floor test in the State Assembly and will talk to the Speaker about it. Tandon had on Saturday asked Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati to conduct the floor test on Monday, March 16, the day on which the assembly session begins. 

The Governor is scheduled to give an address to the House which will be followed by a Motion of Thanks. However, the list of business of the assembly does not mention the floor test of the Kamal Nath-led government.

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MP drama

The opposition BJP had earlier on Sunday issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to be present in the assembly for the floor test scheduled for March 16. Amid political uncertainty the state, BJP and Congress had moved their legislators out of the state and lodged them in luxury hotels, apparently in a bid to keep their respective flock intact. The Congress government is walking on a tightrope in terms of strength in the Assembly after a faction of 22 party MLAs close to ex-Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia quit.

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(With ANI inputs) (PTI photo)