# 2020 Madhya Pradesh political crisis

In March 2020, a political crisis took place in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, due to the resignation of 22 sitting MLAs of the Indian National Congress party from the state's Legislative Assembly. It eventually led to the fall of the Kamal Nath government and the subsequent formation of the fourth Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh.

## Timeline

* In November 2018, elections in Madhya Pradesh were held for all constituencies of the Legislative Assembly. Although no party got a majority, the Indian National Congress (INC) was the single largest party in the assembly. They formed the government with the help of one BSP MLA, one SP MLA and four Independent MLAs. Kamal Nath was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
* On 5 March 2020, 10 MLAs (6 Congress members, 2 from BSP, 1 from SP and 1 Independent), flew to Delhi. 6 of these MLAs initially returned. The remaining 4 MLAs then flew to Bengaluru, where Congress MLA Hardeep Dang resigned from the party. The remaining three MLAs returned soon and denied the claims, made by other Congress leaders, that they were a part of horse-trading.
* On 10 March 2020, a senior leader of INC, Jyotiraditya Scindia suddenly went to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Amit Shah, Home Minister of India. After meeting them, at around 11:30 am, he resigned from the Congress party, saying that he felt very guilty while working for Congress.
* The next day (11 March), at around 3:00 pm, he joined Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Jagat Prakash Nadda, National President of Bharatiya Janata Party. After joining the party, he slammed Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath and other Congress leaders for not giving the importance in the party. Throughout his press conference, he didn't mention the names of the Nehru-Gandhi Family. After joining the party, he was given the ticket of Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
* Both the parties (INC and BJP) approached the Supreme Court (SC) to ask for a floor test in Madhya Pradesh. On 19 March 2020, the SC ordered that the floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly should be done by 5:00 pm, of 20 March 2020.
* On 20 March 2020, after a press conference at noon, the Chief Minister Kamal Nath tendered his resignation.
* On 21 March 2020, in Delhi, all the 22 rebel ex-Congress MLAs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, in presence of BJP's national president J P Nadda.
* On 23 March 2020, Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as the new Chief Minister.

### Later events

* By 23 July 2020, another 3 Congress MLAs (Pradyuman Singh Lodhi (of Malhara), Sumitra Devi Kasdekar (of Nepanagar) and Narayan Patel (of Mandhata)) had resigned to join the BJP.
* On 3 November 2020, by-elections were conducted in the constituencies of all the resigning members to fill the vacant seats.

## List of MLAs who resigned

| S.No | Constituency | Member | Date of resignation | 2020 by-election results |
| 1. | Surkhi | Govind Singh Rajput Cabinet Minister | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 2. | Dabra | Imarti Devi Cabinet Minister | 10 March 2020 | Lost election to INC candidate Suresh Raje |
| 3. | Sanwer | Tulsi Ram Silawat Cabinet Minister | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 4. | Bamori | Mahendra Singh Sisodia Cabinet Minister | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 5. | Sanchi | Prabhuram Choudhary Cabinet Minister | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 6. | Gwalior | Pradhumn Singh Tomar Cabinet Minister | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 7. | Ashok Nagar | Jaipal Singh Jajji | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 8. | Karera | Jasmant Jatav | 10 March 2020 | Lost election to INC candidate Pragilal Jatav |
| 9. | Suwasra | Hardeep Singh Dang | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 10. | Gohad | Ranvir Jatav | 10 March 2020 | Lost election to INC candidate Mevaram Jatav |
| 11. | Gwalior East | Munnalal Goyal | 10 March 2020 | Lost election to INC candidate Satish Sikarwar |
| 12. | Anuppur | Bisahulal Singh | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 13. | Morena | Raghuraj Singh Kansana | 10 March 2020 | Lost election to INC candidate Rakesh Mavai |
| 14. | Badnawar | Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 15. | Mehgaon | O. P. S. Bhadoria | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 16. | Ambah | Kamlesh Jatav | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 17. | Mungaoli | Brajendra Singh Yadav | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 18. | Pohari | Suresh Dhakad | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 19. | Bhander | Raksha Santram Saroniya | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 20. | Dimani | Girraj Dandotiya | 10 March 2020 | Lost election to INC candidate Ravindra Singh Tomar Bhidosa |
| 21. | Sumawali | Adal Singh Kansana | 10 March 2020 | Lost election to INC candidate Ajab Singh Kushwah |
| 22. | Hatpipliya | Manoj Choudhary | 10 March 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 23. | Malhara | Pradyuman Singh Lodhi | 12 July 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 24. | Nepanagar | Sumitra Devi Kasdekar | 17 July 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |
| 25. | Mandhata | Narayan Singh Patel | 23 July 2020 | Won back seat as BJP candidate |

## Outcome

A new government was formed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Due to these resignations, by-elections needed to be held for all these constituencies. The 2020 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly by-elections were carried out in November 2020. 18 of the 25 MLAs involved in the crises, won their seats back as BJP candidates and the BJP government retained their majority in the Legislative Assembly.