Bhopal, March 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) Five out of the eight Congress Madhya Pradesh MLAs, who were allegedly held hostage at Gurugram overnight, were brought back here on Wednesday and taken off straight to the residence of Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
Kamal Nath, who was to address a press conference in the afternoon, cancelled it amid indications that the ruling party has seen off this challenge.
With two of its legislators, Sharad Kol and Narayan Tripathi, refusing to toe the party line, the defection game seems over for the opposition BJP.
The Kamal Nath government has further tightened the screws by ordering closure of iron ore mines of mining baron and BJP legislator Sanjay Pathak, who, according to sources, allegedly funded and lured some MLAs to destabilise the precariously-placed Congress government in the state.
"Yes I have passed the order banning MS Nirmala Minerals' operations at two areas in Sehora with immediate effect," said Jabalpur Collector Bharat Yadav.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 114 MLAs, followed by the BJP with 107. The simple majority mark is 116. The Congress has come to power the state in 2018 after 15 years of BJP's rule with the support of 4 Independents, 2 BSP and 1 SP MLA.
The numbers just don't stack up for the BJP. In a House of with effective strength of 228 after two seats fell vacant due to the death of incumbent MLAs, Congress is ahead with 114.
The BJP can't muster the numbers on two counts. The defecting MLAs could be required to resign if they were to back the BJP during the next floor test of Rajya Sabha elections on March 26. Returning to the House is not guaranteed in the consequent by-election.
Even with the eight MLAs on its side, the BJP could only touch the figure of 113 as the two of its lawmakers have already lent their support to the Congress. With independents and BSP and SP support, the Congress still stays ahead with 120 plus.
The BJP has already disowned the media-labelled "Operation Lotus". A final announcement of the failure may be made later. The Congress is also busy taking final stock before deferring announcement about the turmoil and the lessons it has drawn.
The fact that Kamal Nath remained unruffled through the entire days drama shows the rebels within the Congress will have to rethink their strategy against the Chief Minister. The BJP will have to revisit the drawing board too.
Source: IANS
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