Madhya Pradesh Guv directs Speaker to hold floor test tomorrow

"The Madhya Pradesh Assembly's session will commence at 16 March, 2020 at 11 am, and after my address to the assembly, the first work to be conducted will be voting on trust vote," the Governor said in his order.

"The division on the trust vote will take place by pressing the button, no other mode of voting will be acceptable," he added.

The Governor said that the floor test cannot be delayed or deferred.

The Madhya Pradesh Speaker on Saturday accepted the resignations of six rebel ministers.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Saturday urged Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah to use his good offices for ensuring the safe return of Congress lawmakers held “captive” in the Karnataka capital.

In a letter to Shah, the Kamal Nath touched on the sequence of events since March 3.

He mentioned that the ‘resignations’ of the representatives in question were handed over to the Assembly Speaker by opposition Bharatiya Janata Party legislators and now the saffron camp is demanding a floor test.

Nath assured that the MLAs would be provided foolproof security on their arrival.

The Chief Minister appealed for Shah’s intervention so that the lawmakers are able to discharge duties and fulfil responsibilities without fear or favour during the Budget Session scheduled to commence on Monday.

After the acceptance of the rebel ministers' resignations, the strength of the 230-member MP Assembly has come down to 222, two seats were already vacant owing to the death of two MLAs.

The Congress has 108 MLAs in the House and the support of seven allied legislators.

If the resignations of the remaining rebel MLAs are accepted, the Congress's strength will be reduced to a minority and the BJP, with 107 MLAs, will become the largest party.