'Govt will fall on its own': Day after exit polls, BJP requests MP Governor to call for special assembly session

In what comes as impending trouble for the ruling Congress in Madhya Pradesh, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday wrote to Governor Anandiben Patel claiming that Chief Minister Kamal Nath's government is in minority and requesting her to call for a special session. 

Leader of Opposition in Assembly and BJP MLA Gopal Bhargava said his party will ask the Governor to convene a special session of the state Assembly "to discuss important issues and test the Congress governments strength".

"I am writing a letter to the Governor for convening a special session of MP Assembly shortly. We want discussion important issues like the farm loan waiver and (to) test the government strength, Bhargava told PTI.

He said the Congress, instead of debating issues in the House, was dumping papers at former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's residence, claiming that loans of 21 lakh farmers in Madhya Pradesh have been waived.
The Congress was skirting debate on important issues, he said.

Speaking to ANI, Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Gopal Bhargava said the party is sending a letter to the Governor requesting an assembly session as "there are a lot of issues."

On being asked if the Congress government will fall, he said, "It will fall on its own (MP Government), I don't believe in horse-trading but I feel its time has come and it will have to go soon."

In the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections held last year, the Congress won 114 seats while the BJP was limited to 109 seats in the 230-member assembly. In the assembly where the majority mark is 116, the Congress relies on the support of two BSP MLAs, one Samajwadi Party member and 4 independents. 

This comes a day after most exit polls Sunday forecast another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some of them projecting that BJP-led NDA will get more than 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha.  While the Congress' vote share - 40.9% was slightly less than that of the BJP - 41% -, it was able to win 114 seats against BJP's 109 seats in 230-member assembly. 

In Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP won 27 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha election while two seats had gone to the Congress, the saffron party is projecting to retain the same number of seats in this election.

The Congress hoped to cash on the last year's performance and win more Lok Sabha seats in this elections. However, the exit polls predict a gloomy picture for the ruling party in the state.

Here is what different pollsters predict for the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh:

News 18-IPSOS: BJP: 24-27, Congress: 2-4
News 24-Today's Chanakya: BJP-27, Congress-2
India Today-Axis My India: BJP: 26-28, Congress: 1-3
ABP News-Nielsen: BJP-24, Congress-5
CVoter-Republic: BJP-24, Congress-5
India TV-CNX: BJP-24, Congress-5
Republic- Jan Ki Baat: BJP: 21-24, Congress: 5-8

(With PTI inputs)