The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which has projected the absence of some ruling party MLAs in the Assembly as a pointer to the government’s “instability”, is now learnt to be working towards taking its efforts to a logical end.
According to sources, the BJP’s focus is to reduce the coalition’s numerical strength so that it becomes a minority government by the time the Finance Bill (State budget) comes up for adoption in the Assembly. Then it will seek voting on it, insisting on a head count. This will turn out to be an informal floor test.
“The idea is to defeat the Bill which will lead to an embarrassing situation, resulting in the fall of the government if things go as per the BJP’s plans,” sources said.
The party is considering this as then there will be no need to either approach the Speaker or the Governor. Also, it will appear like a “natural fall” of the government, sources noted. Top BJP leaders are trying to publicly distance themselves from ongoing efforts to woo Congress MLAs, even though they are reportedly supervising such plans. This is because they are also wary of attracting public ire for not allowing the government to function.