"Even Corona Can't Save Kamal Nath": Shivraj Singh As BJP Goes To Court

The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan had a sharp put down for the Kamal Nath government as it got a breather from the floor test with a 10-day adjournment of the state assembly.

"Coronavirus will not save the Kamal Nath government," Mr Chouhan said, referring to the Congress's desperate move to play for time, with a long break in session due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier today, the BJP went to the Supreme Court, asking that the floor test be conducted within 12 hours. The court will hear the petition tomorrow.

The resignation by 22 MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, who quit Congress and shifted to the BJP last week, has triggered a huge crisis for the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government, which had a wafer-thin majority in the assembly.

With the Speaker's acceptance of the resignations of six ministers among the 22 rebel MLAs, the Congress numbers have come down to 108. The party has the support of seven allied legislators.

If the resignations of all the MLAs are accepted, the Congress's strength will come way below the new majority mark of 104, and the BJP, with 107 MLAs, can form government.

The Madhya Pradesh assembly currently has 222 of 230 members and the majority mark is 112.

Over the weekend, Governor Lalji Tandon had asked Speaker NP Prajapati to conduct the floor test on Monday - a suggestion the Congress contested, saying the Governor cannot give such orders to the assembly. After a post-midnight meeting with the Governor, Kamal Nath said the Speaker would take a call on whether the trust vote will happen today.

No trust vote was listed among the assembly's business for the day and this morning, after what was possibly one of the shortest addresses by the Governor, the assembly was adjourned for 10 days.