The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh on Monday got a breather as the Speaker adjourned the Assembly till March 26, a long window that faces a tough test in the Supreme Court which will on Tuesday hear a petition filed by the BJP.
The Speaker adjourned the Assembly amid noisy scenes after the customary governor’s address, defying the governor’s diktat to hold the floor test on Monday itself.
Although governor Lalji Tandon issued another order to conduct the floor test on Tuesday, the BJP moved the Supreme Court against the government’s attempt to escape the consequences of a floor test.
The Congress has described the BJP’s decision to approach the Supreme Court for the floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly as futile without moving a no-confidence motion that the Speaker is under obligation to consider.
Senior Congress leader and lawyer Vivek Tankha said: “How can there be a floor test of a running government? Let there be a no-confidence motion and we will take the vote to prove our majority.”
The BJP, which created a ruckus in the Assembly because the floor test was not conducted on Monday, later moved a no-confidence motion.
The chief Congress spokesperson in Bhopal, Sobha Oza, told The Telegraph: “Let the Speaker decide a date and we will take up the no-confidence motion and prove our majority. Why is the BJP in such a hurry? Is keeping our MLAs in illegal custody in Bengaluru becoming difficult?”
Despite expressing confidence about proving majority in the Assembly, Oza betrayed nervousness by dwelling on the larger issue of the threat to democracy caused by the wanton use of money and power.
“This modus operandi of kidnapping MLAs, luring MLAs and stealing governments of Opposition parties has become a routine. This is posing a grave threat to democracy. From Arunachal to Karnataka, there is a scary trend that should ring alarm bells,” she said.
While the BJP sent its MLAs to Delhi again after the Assembly was adjourned, the rebel Congress legislators stayed put in Bangalore.
Madhya Pradesh governor Tandon did not utter a word about chief minister Kamal Nath’s plea for freeing the “abducted MLAs” but expressed displeasure at the delay in the floor test. He said it was sad that the test did not happen on Monday and asserted that the reasons given by the government lacked basis.
The governor ordered the government to take the floor test on Tuesday, failing which it will be presumed that the Kamal Nath government does not have majority.
While such presumptions without actual voting on the floor of the House is unheard of, chief minister Kamal Nath to stuck to his ground and took objection to the instructions given to him by the governor.
Kamal Nath wrote to the governor: “It is sad that you did not refer to the MLAs who are held captive; leave apart making attempts to free them.”
He added: “I am surprised you have given instructions to me on the conduct of business in the Assembly which falls in the Speaker’s domain. I hope the governor will act according to law and Constitution.”
The Speaker is under no obligation to follow the governor’s order but will have to abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court.
Congress leaders realise they will have to manage the numbers soon enough as the 10-day window given by the Speaker looks untenable.
So far, none of the MLAs hiding in Bangalore has given any indication of a change of heart. The Congress knows the BJP will not allow them to return to Bhopal, which will enable the Congress to work on them.
If all of them finally get disqualified or their resignations are accepted, the government can prove majority only by luring away BJP legislators.
