A day after the Congress-JD(S) coalition government failed in the trial of legislative strength in the Karnataka Assembly floor test, a similar fallout began knocking at the door of other Congress-ruled states where the grand old party is in government with a thin majority. Madhya Pradesh, it appears, could turn out to be the first among them to witness the same plight, if developments transpiring in the state are any indication.

Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Gopal Bhargava dropped a bombshell in the state assembly on Wednesday when he said that the Kamal Nath government would fall in 24 hours if the “number 1 and number 2” in the BJP give them the signal, news agency ANI reported.

The Madhya Pradesh CM shot back and said, “Your top No. 1 and No. 2 are sensible, that is why they are not giving such orders. You are free to bring in a no-confidence motion.”

His remarks came a day after former MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Congress leaders themselves have been responsible for the fall of their governments and the BJP will not cause the fall of government in Madhya Pradesh.

Bhargava had earlier said that it was a big surprise that Kamal Nath government has managed to stay in power for seven months and that is more than enough. “It is a coalition based not on any ideological compatibility or principles, but on greed. The day their demands are not met, the coalition will fall. I believe that the situation in Madhya Pradesh is much worse than that of Karnataka,” Bhargava said.

Madhya Pradesh is one of the last states to be ruled by the Congress party. In a close contest, Congress won 114 seats and the BJP 108 in the 2018 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. The Congress formed government with support from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and four independent candidates. Their coalition has 121 MLAs in the 231-member House, just six more than the magic number of 115.

In December last year, the Congress came to power in three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The grand old party managed to stop the BJP juggernaut in all three states but fell short of magic number in Madhya Pradesh. The party forged a coalition with smaller parties such as BSP to reach the majority mark.

However, in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the Congress was wiped out in all three. Few weeks after its national rout, Congress faced exits and defections in Goa, Telangana and Karnataka.