The Supreme Court will hear BJP's petition seeking a floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday (March 17). The state assembly was adjourned till March 26 by the Speaker on Monday without conducting a floor test citing the coronavirus outbreak.

The development was a setback for the BJP in the state, whose MLAs launched a protest outside the Assembly.

The BJP also paraded its MLAs before the state governor Lalji Tandon and requested him to order for the conduct of the floor test at the earliest. "The govt has lost majority and has no right to remain in power," former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

"The Chief Minister is running away from the trust vote as he knows that the govt lacks majority. BJP has the majority&we've appealed the Governor to order conduct floor test at the earliest. He has assured us to protect our constitutional rights," Chouhan added.

Bhopal: Former #MadhyaPradesh CM and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with party MLAs arrive at Raj Bhavan; BJP has filed a petition in SC seeking floor test in MP Assembly. The State Assembly is adjourned till 26th March, in view of Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/FR3w8DbvZp

— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2020

The floor test to prove majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Monday was directed by Tandon on Saturday. However, it found no place in the List of Business (LoB) issued by the Assembly Secretariat for Monday (March 16).

In the brief address, Tandon advised everyone in the House to uphold the law so that the “dignity of Madhya Pradesh remains protected.”

The LoB only mentioned about Governor's customary address and the motion of thanks on Monday, that marks the first day of the budget session. 

Speaker NP Prajapati also kept everyone guessing about the floor test and remained non-committal on it, saying "you will come to know about it tomorrow (Monday)."

On the other hand, Nath on Sunday questioned the point of conducting a floor test when MLAs are held 'captive' by the BJP. "I have told Governor that I am ready for the floor test and the MLAs who have been held captive should be released. I will speak to the Speaker about floor test," he said.

Responding to the accusation, former CM and BJP leader said that the Congress government has lost the majority and the chief minister is running away from the trust vote.

"Madhya Pradesh govt has lost its majority, that is why they are running away from it, we will ask govt to bring a confidence motion. Chief Minister has said he wants a floor test, then why is he not doing it? Our only demand is a floor test," he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Gopal Bhargava, said, "Governor had ordered a floor test in the state assembly after his address but the test is not mentioned in Assembly's list of business for tomorrow. We will raise this issue, Speaker will have to follow Governor's orders."

The drama in the Madhya Pradesh politics began on March 9 after 22 Congress MLAs, loyalists of former party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who quit the Congress to join the BJP, resigned from the Assembly, reducing the 15-month-old CM Kamal Nath's government to a minority.

So far, the speaker, who also belongs to the Congress, has accepted six resignations, bringing the total strength of the Assembly to 222 and the new majority mark to 112. BJP has 107 MLAs in the Assembly.