Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister resigned today, hours before a floor test to prove his majority in the state assembly as per Supreme Court's Thursday order. The Congress government in the state had plunged into crisis after exit of 22 MLAs followed by former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's high profile crossover from the Congress to the BJP.
This comes after the Supreme Court gave a 5 pm deadline for the floor test, responding to a petition by the BJP. Ordering the session to be reconvened on Friday, the court said, "There will be only one agenda - whether the government enjoys strength. The state of uncertainty in Madhya Pradesh should be effectively resolved by a floor test".
Last night, making the collapse of the government in Madhya Pradesh all but certain, state assembly speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati accepted the resignations of the remaining 16 rebel Congress MLAs who have been in Bengaluru since March 9. Resignation of six rebel MLAs was accepted last week.
The acceptance of the resignations brought down the total strength of the assembly to 206 where the ruling Congress with 92 members and seven allied MLAs is now at least five short of a simple majority of 104. The opposition BJP with 107 MLAs is three more than the simple majority.
