The voting was conducted through voice vote and all the MLAs present voted in favour of the new government. These included 107 BJP MLAs, four independents, two BSP MLAs and one SP MLA. There were 114 votes in the favour of the government while the Congress decided to remain absent. The BSP and SP MLAs voted for the BJP government despite being asked by their parties to vote against the government.
In a late-night development ahead of the floor test, MP assembly speaker NP Prajapati resigned from his post and senior BJP MLA Jagdish Devda was announced as pro tem speaker. In the morning the BJP issued a one-line whip to all party MLAs to be present in the House.
As the special session of the state assembly began, Chouhan moved a one-line proposal to seek trust of the House, which was endorsed by the members through voice vote.
“The Governor has asked us to prove majority in 15 days. But we decided why wait for 15 days. We should win the trust of the House today itself and work towards eliminating coronavirus from the state,” Chouhan said in the assembly. Soon after the trust vote, the assembly was adjourned till March 27.
The new government is planning to present an interim budget on March 27, followed by a fullfledged budget in June.
The Congress had asked all its MLAs not to be present in the House during the trust vote. “He took oath at night and in the morning we were informed that there would be a trust vote,” former minister and Congress leader PC Sharma told ET. “Shivraj Singh Chouhan lost the people’s mandate 15 months ago and has come to power now by using money power in buying MLAs. Also, there is curfew in the city, but they are hell-bent on breaking every rule.”
Sharma said a real floor test could have been conducted only after holding by-elections for 24 assembly seats.
Often Seen Together
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath with new CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Nath assured the Chouhan of the opposition party’s help for the state’s development.
