Explained: Can Madhya Pradesh Speaker disqualify all the MLAs who resigned from Kamal Nath's govt?

Bhopal, Mar 14: With 22 Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs, who are considered to be the loyalists of former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, tendered their resignations, it is time for State Assembly Speaker, NP Prajapati to make his move.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Congress leader, served the party for 18 years and resigned on Tuesday.

But, is that easy to resign from one political party and join the other party?

According to the rules, the MLAs who decides to quit a political party and join the other, has to send their resignation to the Speaker. The MLAs are free to join other party only after the Speaker officially accepts it. Also there is another twist, the Speaker has power to either disqualify or accept an MLA's resignation.

Also, the Madhya Pradesh situation can be related with Karnataka after the Speaker had ruled the rebel MLAs ineligible for the entire session. Later, the rebel MLAs approached the Supreme Court where their right to contest the election was restored.

It is also crucial for the Madhya Pradesh government to see whether the Congress MLAs would wait for the Speaker to officially accept them or join the BJP straight away.

What happens if the MLAs join other party without Speaker officially accepting their resignation?

If an MLA only tenders his/her resignation and decides to join other political party, the Speaker can take active action against them under the Anti-Defection Law as those MLAs would still be in the same party in assembly records.

After the resignation is accepted by the Speaker of those MLAs, then they are free to join a political party as they can escape the Anti-Defection Law and contest a fresh elections in bypolls.

"If from information received or otherwise and after making such inquiry as he thinks fit, the Speaker is satisfied that such resignation is not voluntary or genuine, he shall not accept such resignation," the Constitution says.