Kamal Nath said his government is not in minority.
Highlights
- Sharad Kol and Narayan Tripathi were earlier associated with the Congress
- The Congress had promised to pass the Bill a part of its pre-poll promise
- The Bill was passed in the assembly with 122 votes
Two BJP legislators voted in favour of a bill of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday. It was a quirky reverse for the party, whose leader, hours ago, spoke of bringing down the government.
Sharad Kol and Narayan Tripathi -- both former Congressmen -- voted for the Congress's Advocate Protection Act Bill-a longtime demand of the lawyers of the state. The bill, drafted 15 years ago, had never made it to the assembly during the three-term government of Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The Congress, which came to power in the state in December, had made it a part of its pre-election promise.
Just a few hours before, the BJP lawmaker Gopal Bhargava, the leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, had boasted that if his bosses could bring down the state government any time they wanted with just an order.
"Hamare oopar wale number 1 ya number 2 ka aadesh hua to 24 ghante bhi aapki sarkar nahi chalegi (If there is an order from our No. 1 or No. 2 then your government will not survive even 24 hours," Gopal Bhargava had said.
Coming a day after the Congress's coalition government in Karnataka crashed in the trust vote, the threat caused a flutter.
"Your top No. 1 and No. 2 are sensible, that is why they are not giving such orders. You are free to bring in a no-confidence motion," the Chief Minister had retorted.
Kamal Nath said his government is not in minority. The government today secured 122 votes on the Congress's Advocate Protection Act Bill that was passed in the assembly.
Madhya Pradesh is one of the few states not in control of the BJP. The party lost it to Congress in the assembly elections held last year, along with the heartland states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The Congress, whose 13 legislators had resigned in Karnataka, along with three from HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular, has accused the BJP of systematically grabbing power in all states not under its control by any possible means.
Yesterday, senior party leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had accused the BJP of attempting to topple the coalition government through bribery and "wholesale trade" of rebel MLAs.
The allegation was underscored by state Congress in-charge KC Venugopal. "The sabotage of a duly elected government in Karnataka carried out by the BJP is one of the most heinous and subversive instances of blatant political horse tradings the country has ever witnessed," his statement read.