Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh assembly session beginning Monday, the Congress Sunday alleged that the BJP had been attempting horse-trading, a charge refuted by the saffron party.
The Congress unseated the BJP in the state after 15 years by winning 114 seats, two short of a majority, in the 230-member House in the Assembly polls held in November.
The Congress will have to face its first floor test to get a Speaker elected during the five-day assembly session.
“It is the habit of the BJP to play destructive politics but they will not succeed. They have talked to several of our MLAs. We (MLAs) will meet in the evening and take a decision on what to do next,” Jitu Patwari, Minister for Sports and Higher Education, told PTI.
Asked about the offers allegedly being made by the BJP, Patwari said, “They (BJP) make different offers.” Earlier, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, while talking to a news channel, had also alleged that BJP was resorting to horse-trading in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, however, denied the allegations, stating, “If we wanted to form a government, we would have done this on the day of the election results.” Taking a swipe at Singh, Vijayvargiya said his statement need not be taken seriously as he spreads “political pollution”.
Another BJP MLA and former minister Sanjay Pathak said, “If BJP had to form the government, then why did Shivraj ji (former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan) resign?” Pathak, who had resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in April 2014, also praised CM Kamal Nath terming him a good manager and said, “He (Nath) has been a Union minister for 20 years and hopefully he will run the government well.” The Congress has formed the government with the support of four Independent, one SP and two BSP MLAs. The BJP has 109 MLAs.
{{/usCountry}}Another BJP MLA and former minister Sanjay Pathak said, “If BJP had to form the government, then why did Shivraj ji (former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan) resign?” Pathak, who had resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in April 2014, also praised CM Kamal Nath terming him a good manager and said, “He (Nath) has been a Union minister for 20 years and hopefully he will run the government well.” The Congress has formed the government with the support of four Independent, one SP and two BSP MLAs. The BJP has 109 MLAs.
{{/usCountry}}The session will begin with MLAs being administered oath on January 7 and 8, an Assembly Secretariat official informed earlier.
The Speaker will be elected on January 8 and the MP Governor will address the House on the same day, the official added.
The Congress has already announced the candidature of Gotegaon MLA Narmada Prasad Prajapati for the post of Speaker while the BJP is yet to disclose its strategy in this regard.
Meanwhile, the BJP has convened a meeting of its MLAs on Monday evening with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and party national vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe expected to be present, a party spokesperson said.