Bhopal: The Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government appeared to have slipped into minority on Tuesday when 22 Congress MLAs, including six ministers, sent in their resignations shortly after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia walked out of the party in a huff.
The MLAs, believed to be loyal to Scindia, were whisked away to a resort in Bengaluru on Monday evening, triggering hectic parleys both in the Congress and the BJP. To stave off a collapse, Nath held an emergency cabinet meeting at his residence following which all ministers present resigned to pave the way for rebel MLAs to get cabinet berths.
The move, however, failed to stall the crisis as Scindia himself tendered his resignation from the party on Tuesday and is all set to join the BJP. The rebel MLAs hammered the final nail in the coffin with their resignations.
The actual strength of the Madhya Pradesh assembly is 230. With two seats vacant, the effective strength is 228.
However, with the resignation of the 22 MLAs, the strength of the Assembly will be 206 and the magic number required to prove majority will be 104.
The Congress had 114 MLAs of its own but the resignations bring down its tally in the Assembly to 92. The party is also supported by two legislators of the BSP, one of the SP one and four Independents. Assuming that these legislators continue to support the Kamal Nath government, the tally of the Congress and its allies will be maximum 99 MLAs, still five short of the halfway mark.
The BJP has 107 MLAs in the assembly. Party sources had told News18 on Monday that in case the BJP’s political fortunes change in MP, Shivraj Singh Chouhan will return as chief minister.
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