Ending 18 days of political drama, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday afternoon submitted his resignation to Governor Lalji Tandon, ahead of the Supreme Court-mandated floor test.
Mr. Nath said he would rather stick to his political values and principles of 40 years than compromise. “I will continue to stick to my values. This is my strength,” he told reporters at his official residence.
“I will continue to struggle along with each member of the Congress family in people’s interest.” Mr. Tandon accepted his resignation and asked Mr. Nath to continue as caretaker Chief Minister, Raj Bhavan sources said.
Earlier on Thursday night, M.P. Assembly Speaker N.P. Prajapati accepted the resignation of 16 rebel Congress MLAs, who have been in a resort in Bengaluru since March 9, sealing the fate of the embattled government. The Speaker had accepted resignation of six rebel MLAs on March 14.
The strength of the Congress in the 231-member House was down to 92. On Friday morning, BJP MLA Sharad Kol, who in the past had crossvoted with the Congress, also quit. With the resignations, the strength of the Assembly stands at 205, with the simple majority mark at 103. The BJP with 104 MLAs has a clear majority. Moments after the government fell, BJP leader Arvind Bhadoriya said independent MLAs as well those from the BSP and the SP had shifted their support to the saffron party.
In his resignation letter to Mr. Tandon, Mr. Nath wrote: “In the 40 years of my public life, I have always practised pol