22 Rebel Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs Join BJP In Presence Of Party Chief JP Nadda

Twenty-two Congress legislators, who resigned amid a political crisis in Madhya Pradesh after Jyotiraditya Scindia jumped ship to BJP, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday in presence of party president JP Nadda. Jyotiraditya Scindia, who recently joined the party in the national capital, was present along with the BJP chief. Apart from him, two key leaders of Madhya Pradesh -- Narendra Tomar and Kailash Vijayvargiya were also present.

Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath announced his resignation ahead of the scheduled floor test to prove his majority in the state assembly. "I have decided to submit my resignations to the governor...But I will continue to work for the welfare of the people," he said.

Accusing the BJP of plotting against him, Kamal Nath warned those who breached the trust of the people.

Even before the announcement, speculations were rife that Kamal Nath might announce his resignation rather than face the floor test during the press conference. These speculations were further boosted after senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh conceded that they 'did not have the numbers' to survive the floor test. The floor test for the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh to prove its majority in the Assembly was scheduled for 2.00 pm on Friday.

Talking to India Today, Singh had said that the Kamal Nath government will not be able to survive the trust vote. He said that after the acceptance of the resignations of 22 MLAs, the government did not have the numbers.

Earlier, Speaker NP Prajapati had accepted the resignations of 16 rebel Congress MLAs around 11.30pm on Thursday. The rebel MLAs are still in Bengaluru and had refused to participate in the floor test. Six resignations were accepted earlier. This means that the resignations of all the 22 MLAs who resigned from the assembly with rebel leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has been accepted. BJP MLA Sharad Kol had also tedered his resignation bringing the strength of house down to 205 now with the majority mark at 103. The Congress has 91 members excluding the speaker. It may gather the support of four independent legislators, one SP MLA and two BSP members, but will still fall short of the majority mark by six. The BJP has 107 MLAs in the assembly.

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Supreme Cout has ordered immediate floor test after hearing the plea of former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The court has directed the trust vote to be completed by 5 pm on Friday. The agenda for the floor test was was issued at 1.30 am on Friday by Assembly principal secretary AP Singh.

(With Agency Inputs)