Kamal Nath resigns ahead of trust vote in Assembly

Bhopal, March 20, 2020

Slamming the BJP for destabilising his government, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath resigned on Friday ahead of the trust vote in the state Assembly, ending the 15-month-old Congress rule in the state.

Kamal Nath's government lost majority after the resignation of 22 MLAs, who are in support of former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who recently moved from the Congress to the BJP.

Before resigning, Kamal Nath addressed the media and alleged that it was a BJP conspiracy in the state to pull down his elected government.

He said that he worked for the development of the state and the BJP did not want action against the mafias operating in the state.

The outgoing Chief Minister alleged: "This breach of trust was against the people of Madhya Pradesh, not against me. People will not forgive those who went against their wishes. Twenty-two of our MLAs were held captive in Bengaluru. This was politics, spending crores of rupees."

"I got the mandate for five years but got only 15 months. BJP ruled for 15 years and from day one, it was a conspiracy of the BJP to destabilise the government," he added.

Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh was among the audience, as were many of the Congress MLAs.

The Supreme Court has asked for the vote of confidence to be taken up on Friday till 5 p.m.

The road to power in Madhya Pradesh for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, was cleared with Kamal Nath's resignation.

He announced his resignation in a press conference and said he will submit it to Governor Lalji Tandon at 1 p.m. which meant there was no need for the floor test now.

Sources in the BJP said the party will meet the Governor in the evening and stake claim to form the government in the state. All the BJP MLAs have been asked to be in the state.

The Congress government led by Kamal Nath fell short of majority in the state assembly after the former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the party.

Ahead of the floor test there was a frantic effort to pull off a near impossible win in Friday's floor test, and the Congress held three meetings in quick succession till 10.45 p.m. on Thursday.

The Speaker's approval for the proposal finally came shortly after Thursday midnight after he accepted the resignation of the remaining 16 MLAs who are holed up in Bengaluru.

Earlier in the day, BJP MLA Sharad Kol resigned. The Speaker accepted his resignation

The present strength of the House after the resignation of Kamal Nath is Congress + = 99. BJP = +106. The halfway mark is 103.

IANS