Bhopal, March 20: Congress leader Kamal Nath on Friday tendered his resignation from the post of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister shortly before the floor test in the assembly. "I have decided to tender my resignation to the Governor today," Kamal Nath told a press conference. With Kamal Nath's resignation, the Congress has lost power in second state after Karnataka in less than a year. Since Nath has stepped down, there won't be a floor test now.

Addressing the press conference, Nath listed steps taken by his government for the development of Madhya Pradesh and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was "frustrated" seeing progress in the state under the Congress rule. "We started Yuva Swabhiman Yojna to reduce unemployment, made shelters for stray cows, we decided to construct a grand temple for Sita in Sri Lanka...All these things irked the BJP," the Chief Minister said.

Kamal Nath Tenders Resignation From Madhya Pradesh CM Post:

On Thursday, the Supreme Court had ordered a floor test for the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state and asked to complete the proceedings before 5 pm. Shortly after Nath announced to quit, the Congress's state unit posted a tweet, saying: "People suffered a defeat. BJP won." Nath was expected to resign as numbers were not in favour of the Congress after Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati accepted the resignation of 16 more Congress MLAs on Thursday night.

The Legislative Assembly has 230 MLAs, of which 24 seats are vacant. A majority in the House of 206 MLAs will require the support of 104 MLAs. The BJP has 107 MLAs, and Congress 92. The Congress has the support of the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and Independent MLAs, which totals up to 99. However, it was not enough to prove the majority.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2020 12:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).