Bhopal: Governor of Madhya Pradesh Lalji Tandon wrote his name in the annals of Indian constitutional history when he showed merciless, gleeful haste in seeking the downfall of a government. According to his own directive to chief minister Kamal Nath, he was to address the MP assembly to mark the start of the Budget session, post which the CM was supposed to seek a trust vote.
At the appointed hour, Tandon turned up at the assembly on Monday and was welcomed at the gate by Kamal Nath and his ministers. Governor Tandon then read out only the last page of his printed speech, which took exactly 59 seconds. He then grandiosely declared that the house should now follow the Constitution and give “a good account of itself in keeping with the traditions of MP vidhan sabha” The Congress legislators shouted “show respect for the legislature” as the governor swiftly left the house.
Madhya Pradesh governor Lalji Tandon and CM Kamal Nath arrive for the budget session of the state assembly in Bhopal, March 16, 2020. Photo: PTI
As if on cue, leader of opposition Gopal Bhargava jumped up from his place and started reading out the governor’s letter to Kamal Nath to prove his majority on the floor of the House. Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati calmly sat on his chair and declared that “all correspondence that Bhargava is referring to has happened outside the House and does not concern him so he is not bound by it, therefore I am conducting this house and have not included the floor test in the schedule for the day”. The assembly was adjourned until March 26 on account of the coronavirus.
While governor Tandon went to the Raj Bhavan, the BJP, led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has gone to the Supreme Court and all the Congress legislators who have resigned refused to surface at all. That’s essentially what happened on Monday.
Now that leaves us with the questions that the Supreme Court has to consider. Was Tandon right in directing the chief minister to seek a trust vote? Yes, he is within his powers to do so but he made the crucial mistake of not asking the speaker to conduct the test under Article 175 of the Constitution, which empowers him to send any message which the house has to consider and respond appropriately “at convenient dispatch”.
Even if we consider his letter to the leader of the house as essentially informing the house, Kamal Nath did not say a word about it in the house itself. Bhargava jumped the gun and with undisguised joy, started reading out the letter. It was not for him to do so. He could have waited or egged Kamal Nath to do so.
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Now what can governor Tandon do? The assembly has been adjourned with a definite timeline with a definite cause: the coronavirus scare. Can he now, under Article 175 (2), reassemble the assembly and force the speaker despite the real threat of the coronavirus infection when all large gatherings have been banned everywhere else in the country? Why are the 22 MLAs who resigned not appearing before the press or the vidhan sabha speaker, who is well within his rights to seek their personal presence over their resignation? He may find them under pressure or having done so out of greed. He can then disqualify or expel them, which will render them unqualified to contest an election for six years.
What has Kamal Nath or the Congress gained? Only ten days. The Rajya Sabha elections are supposed to be held on March 26, when the vidhan sabha will reassemble and the governor, following good advise and protocol, may then ask the speaker to conduct the floor test. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will perhaps refer to its own SR Bommai case and refer the matter back to the speaker. The hyenas are at the gate and Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh know how the scenarios in Karnataka and Goa ended. They have gained some time, but their time is slipping by.