MP Assembly Budget Session Today, Floor Test Unlikely

Bhopal: The Budget Session of the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly will begin on Monday. Governor Lalji Tandon is likely to deliver his address to the legislature.

The Kamal Nath government, however, is unlikely to face a floor test in the assembly as the matter is not listed on the day's agenda.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath accused the BJP of immoral activities and trying to destabilise a duly elected government. The Congress MLAs are being held hostage against their will, he alleged.

Kamal Nath also told the media that he was prepared to prove his majority. He added that it was a call which the Speaker had to take. The Speaker of the MP assembly NP Prajapati said that he was looking into the direction of the Governor to conduct a floor test and that he would take an appropriate call as per his constitutional responsibility.

On the other hand, former MP chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan claimed that the Kamal Nath government was in a minority. He pointed out that Governor Lalji Tandon had already asked the chief minister to prove his majority on the floor of the house.

Kamal Nath has a major crisis on hand with 22 rebel Congress MLAs deserting the party. The effective strength of the Congress party has now been reduced to 91, the BJP claimed. The Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Gopal Bhargava of the BJP said that there was no way that Kamal Nath could bridge the gap in numbers and that the collapse of his government was imminent.

Meanwhile, the Congress MLAs who returned from Jaipur said that they were confident that the Kamal Nath government would last its full term. The Speaker has already accepted the resignations of six rebel Congress MLAs, while the Governor has also dropped six of Kamal Nath's cabinet colleagues on his recommendation.