Bhopal: In a major setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh, two of its MLAs supported the Congress-led government during voting on a bill in the Assembly on Wednesday.
The BJP legislators , Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kol, who were former Congress leaders, voted in favour of the Criminal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2019 when it was put to vote in the Assembly.
The duo explained their unprecedented move as “gharwapsi” or homecoming.
The development took place in less than 24 hours after the saffron party managed to topple the HD Kumarswamy-led Congress-JD (S) coalition government in Karnataka.
The Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh is among only four state government led by Congress across the nation.
Even as the Congress rules as the single largest party in the state, it is not in clear majority.
Just hour before the voting by the BJP leaders in favour of Congress-led Government, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava had claimed that if “No. 1 and No. 2 in BJP give the signal, the Kamal Nath government won’t last 24 hours”.
The BJP was taken completely by surprise.
Addressing a press conference Chief Minister Kamal Nath said, “Every day, BJP claims we are a minority government and could fall any day. Today, two BJP MLAs have voted for Congress. We have gained support of 122 MLAs in the House”.
“Ab doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho gaya,” the Congress leader said.
In the 2018 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress bagged 114 seats, the BJP 109, the BSP 2, the SP 1 and independent candidates won four seats. The Congress was two short of the simple majority mark of 116 in the 230-member Assembly.
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