Ahead of the crucial floor test on Monday, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh has issued a whip to the party MLAs in an attempt to keep its flock together. The party has already expressed concern over horse-trading and taken the names of two Ministers of the previous BJP government in this connection.
The first session of the new Assembly begins on Monday.
‘Numbers with Cong.’
The process of issuing a whip to all the party MLAs for the floor test has already been done, Congress in-charge C.P. Shekhar said. They have been instructed to be present in the Assembly commencing on January 7 and vote in favour of the confidence motion, he said, adding that “the numbers are with the Congress and the party will win”.
On Sunday, the Congress MLAs started arriving at the official bungalow of Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Mr. Nath is likely to address the MLAs in the presence of senior party leaders Digvijaya Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kantilal Bhuriya, Vivek Tankha and Suresh Pachouri.
Two-days ago, Mr. Digvijaya Singh had expressed concern about horse-trading, alleging that two former BJP Ministers -- Narottam Mishra and Bhupinder Singh -- were working to destabilise the Congress government.
Allegation denied
Senior BJP MLA and former Minister in BJP government, Gopal Bhargav, on Sunday rubbished the Congress allegations.
“We are a party of grassroot workers who believe in fighting a battle on the ground. We will not resort to any unfair means,” he said.
The BJP is likely to finalise name of the Leader of the Opposition on Monday.
Shivraj not in race
Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has already clarified that he is not in the race.
“I served as Chief Minister for 13 years therefore would like some other person to shoulder the responsibility of Leader of the Opposition,” Mr. Chouhan had told reporters on last Friday.
The Congress has won 114 seats in the recently held Assembly elections, but was two short of the simple majority mark of 116 in the 230-member Assembly. The party took support of two BSP MLAs, the sole SP MLA and four Independents to form the government. The BJP could bag 109 seats.
