Meet me and explain stand: Madhya Pradesh speaker to Congress rebels

These legislators are loyalists of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, and their resignations have triggered a crisis in the MP government.

Madhya Pradesh assembly speaker NP Prajapati on Thursday issued notices to 22 rebel Congress members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) who sent in their letters of resignation, asking them to appear before him by Friday and explain whether they had quit voluntarily or under pressure. These legislators are loyalists of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, and their resignations have triggered a crisis in the MP government.

The speaker’s decision came in the backdrop of both the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) preparing for a protracted legal battle over what the former has called an attempt by the latter to poach its legislators and destabilise the state government . The resignations came as senior Congress leader Scindia decided to resign from the party and join the BJP.

“Notices are being issued to (22 rebel) MLAs as per rules to seek their response in view of the resignation letters submitted in their names,” Prajapati said.

The speaker asked the MLAs to meet him by Friday to present their resignation letters in person and also cite reasons for the move, a requirement under the state assembly rules. This requirement was upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of 15 Karnataka legislators from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) who resigned from the state assembly, leading to the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy government in 2019.

The speaker’s notice came a few hours after the opposition announced that it would seek a floor test to show that the Congress government of chief minister Kamal Nath had been reduced to a minority in the assembly.

“Since the government is in minority, we are going to request the governor and the assembly speaker for a floor test on March 16 when the state budget session begins,” BJP’s chief whip in the state assembly, Narottam Mishra, said.

The BJP is seeking the floor test in the wake of 22 Congress MLAs, loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, resigning from the state assembly, he said. Scindia joined the BJP on Wednesday.

Former chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “This government has lost majority and speaker should quickly decide on the resignations.”

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said there was no question of a floor test as the resignations of the MLAs had not been accepted by the speaker. He also accused the BJP of holding the 19 party legislators hostage.

“Floor test cannot take place as the resignations submitted by 19 MLAs have not been accepted. They should physically come before the Speaker and speak for themselves. These MLAs have been held hostage by the BJP,” he said.

On Thursday, BJP MLA and former home minister Bhupendra Singh handed over the original copies of the resignation letters of three Congress MLAs — Bisahulal Singh, Aindal Singh Kansana and Manoj Chaudhary — to the speaker. Earlier, Singh had given the original copies of the resignation letters of 19 Congress MLAs to the speaker.

The Congress, before the rebellion, had 114 members in the 228 member assembly. It also has the support of four Independents, two Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one from the Samajwadi Party, but some of these lawmakers may now switch sides in case of an early floor test. The BJP has 107 lawmakers and in case the resignation of the 22 MLAs is accepted, the party will have a majority in the house with a reduced strength of 206. The majority mark would be 104.

According to Congress leaders, chief minister Kamal Nath’s strategy is to delay the voting on the trust motion in the assembly to frustrate the rebel legislators so that they can return to the party.

The party is convinced that governor Lalji Tandon who would be returning to Bhopal from Lucknow on Thursday night does not have powers to force the speaker to hold the trust motion.

“In the Karnataka assembly case, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the onus of running the house is on the speaker and governor cannot issue any direction in this regard,” a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.

The Congress leaders did not rule out the possibility of deferring the budget session on the ground that 19 of its legislators were being held hostage in Bengaluru. “How can the government hold the session when the legislators are being held hostage. Let the BJP free our MLAs first,” said Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha.

Tankha also said that if the Congress MLAs failed to turn up in response to the notices issued by the speaker, the party will have to move court. “We will tell the court as to how democracy is under threat in the country,” he said.

The BJP, however, denied that the Congress MLAs were being held hostage. Chouhan said all the Congress MLAs had gone to Bengaluru on their own and the BJP was not responsible for it. “The Congress should tell why its MLAs are unhappy with the government,” he said.

If the assembly session is deferred, the BJP may seek court intervention saying that the move clearly showed that the government lacked a majority on the floor of the house. “We are exploring all legal options,” said Mishra when reporters asked him about the possibility of deferment of the assembly session.

MP BJP spokesperson Dr Hitesh Bajpai said, “If the Congress leaders will move the court, we can also move the court. Congress government knows well that its days are numbered. That’s why it wishes to buy time and make the issue complex. The Congress leaders must admit frankly and honestly that they are running a minority government and CM Kamal Nath should resign.”

Another senior BJP leader, who was not willing to be named, said, “The party is exploring all the options to prove the government being in minority. The party has three options– first, to demand a floor test; second, to introduce a no-confidence motion and third, to defeat the government during voting on motion of thanks to the governor’s address.”

Political analyst Girijashankar said, “The situation is heading for a showdown in the next few days when the state assembly’s budget session begins. If Congress MLAs who have tendered their resignation are not seen in the party camp then, of course, the government will have to admit that the numbers are not in its favour. However, it’s not an easy task for BJP too to see a floor test soon.”

According to Supreme Court judgments, the speaker has to convince himself that the resignations were not submitted under pressure or coercion before deciding on them.

“The speaker will consider a resignation only when it is submitted in proper format and in person,” an assembly secretariat official said. He said the speaker had the final power to run the house but his decision on the floor of the house can be challenged in court.