Meet me and explain stand: Madhya Pradesh speaker to Cong rebels
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh assembly speaker NP Prajapati on Thursday issued notices to 22 rebel Congress members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) who sent in their letters of resignation, asking them to appear before him by Friday and explain whether they had quit voluntarily or under pressure. These legislators are loyalists of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, and their resignations have triggered a crisis in the MP government.
The speaker’s decision came in the backdrop of both the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) preparing for a protracted legal battle over what the former has called an attempt by the latter to poach its legislators and destabilise the state government . The resignations came as senior Congress leader Scindia decided to resign from the party and join the BJP.
“Notices are being issued to (22 rebel) MLAs as per rules to seek their response in view of the resignation letters submitted in their names,” Prajapati said.
The speaker asked the MLAs to meet him by Friday to present their resignation letters in person and also cite reasons for the move, a requirement under the state assembly rules. This requirement was upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of 15 Karnataka legislators from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) who resigned from the state assembly, leading to the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy government in 2019.
The speaker’s notice came a few hours after the opposition announced that it would seek a floor test to show that the Congress government of chief minister Kamal Nath had been reduced to a minority in the assembly.
“Since the government is in minority, we are going to request the governor and the assembly speaker for a floor test on March 16 when the state budget session begins,” BJP’s chief whip in the state assembly, Narottam Mishra, said.
The BJP is seeking the floor test in the wake of 22 Congress MLAs, loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, resigning from the state assembly, he said. Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday.
Former chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “This government has lost majority and speaker should quickly decide on the resignations.”
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said there was no question of a floor test as the resignations of the MLAs had not been accepted by the speaker. He also accused the BJP of holding the 19 party legislators hostage.
“Floor test cannot take place as the resignations submitted by 19 MLAs have not been accepted. They should physically come before the Speaker and speak for themselves. These MLAs have been held hostage by the BJP,” he said.