BJP to seek floor test in MP Assembly on March 16

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The BJP in Madhya Pradesh will seek a floor test on March 16 in the wake of 22 Congress MLAs resigning the state, a senior BJP leader said on Thursday. The 14-month-old Kamal Nath-led government has been facing a deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday (March 10).

"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 Madhya Pradesh Assembly Narottam Mishra told reporters here.

The governor and the speaker have the resignations of 22 MLAs. Now it is up to them to take a call, he said.

"This government has lost majority," senior BJP leader former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said here.

The Congress has a wafer-thin majority in the 228- member Assembly. Before the rebellion, its tally was 114. It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one from the SP, but some may now switch sides to the BJP.

If the resignations of the 22 MLAs are accepted, the strength of the Assembly will fall to 206.

The Congress, on its own, will then be left with 92 seats, while the BJP has 107 seats with the magic number for a majority being 104.