NE NEW SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 16
Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Kamal Nath and asked him to face floor test by Tuesday. This came after the Governor’s previous directive to face the floor test on Monday was flouted as the Assembly house was adjourned till March 26 in view of the prevalent coronavirus fear.
The state government had said legislature sessions in several other states were adjourned due to the coronavirus scare, while the BJP demanded holding of a floor test as directed by Governor Lalji Tandon.
Tandon’s fresh directive came two days after he first asked Nath to face a floor test on Monday, after the commencement of budget session of the Assembly.
Speaker N P Prajapati had adjourned the House after Legislative Affairs Minister Govind Singh broached the issue of coronavirus scare, saying the World Health Organisation has declared it a pandemic.
In a reminder of the developments in Karnataka last year, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the state government to undertake floor test in view of the political crisis in the state. The plea alleged that the direction Tandon to Nath for conducting a floor test on March 16 was not complied with.
When the Karnataka political crisis was at its peak, the Supreme Court had in July last year directed that the 15 rebel MLAs of the Congress and JD(S) ought not to be compelled to take part in the proceedings of the Karnataka Assembly, which was then slated to decide the confidence motion moved by the H D Kumaraswamy-led state government.
Soon after the governor wrapped up his address to the Assembly earlier on Monday, Singh said, “You all know that in the wake of (Covid-19) pandemic outbreak, the ongoing Assembly sessions of Rajasthan, Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharasthra have been adjourned.”
BJP chief whip in the Assembly Narottam Mishra said Kamal Nath should seek a trust vote on Monday itself as directed by the governor. There were noisy scenes after Congress legislators objected to the demand.
Prajapati spoke to the governor who asked the members to “uphold democratic values and pride” of the state.
Nath on Monday wrote to Tandon stating that holding of a floor test in the Assembly would have been “undemocratic and unconstitutional” in view of some MLAs of the Congress being held in “captivity” by the BJP with the help of the Karnataka Police.
“I would like you to recall that when I met you on March 13, 2020, I had brought to your notice that the BJP has kept many Congress MLAs as captive under the control of Karnataka Police and they were forced to give different types of statements.
“I have clarified that in such a situation holding any floor test has no meaning and it will be undemocratic and unconstitutional,” Nath stated in his six-page letter Chouhan said Nath has no constitutional right to run the government after losing majority, in view of 22 Congress MLAs tendering their resignation from the House.
“The number of Congress MLAs in the House has reduced to 92 (after resignation of 22 MLAs). We have 106 MLAs who have come to Raj Bhavan. The BJP has a clear majority now. The Congress government is evading the floor test,” he said. The Speaker had accepted the resignation of six of the 22 Congress MLAs.
