Only raising of hands allowed during trust vote: Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon writes to Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon on Sunday wrote to Chief Minister Kamal Nath saying that the voting during a trust vote on Monday should be taken up only through raising of hands and not by any other method.

Notably, in his letter to the CM ordering a trust vote on Saturday, the governor had directed that the division of votes during the floor test be conducted only by pressing the button (through the electronic voting system) and by no other way.

However, the governor issued new directives on Sunday after a delegation of BJP leaders urged him to direct the speaker to conduct the floor test by raising of hands. They claimed that the electronic voting system is not in place in the Assembly.

In his letter on Sunday, Tandon issued new directives saying the voting during the trust vote should be taken up only through the raising of hands and that no other method should be adopted.

The budget session of the state assembly is scheduled to begin from Monday.

The governor directed the floor test in the wake of the resignation of 22 MLAs of the Congress on March 10.

The BJP has claimed that the Kamal Nath-led government was reduced to a minority after the resignations.

Speaker NP Prajapati had accepted resignations of six MLAs--all serving as ministers in the Nath cabinet.