Bhopal, Mar 13 (IANS): In the wake of 22 MLAs owing allegiance to Jyotiraditya Scindia resigning from the 16-month old Madhya Pradesh government putting it into crisis, Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday met Governor Lalji Tandon and requested him to conduct floor test.

Kamal Nath accused the BJP of indulging in horse trading and requested for the release of the Congress MLAs held captive in Bengaluru as he urged for the vote of confidence in the forthcoming session of the Assembly that starts on March 16.

Nath arrived at the residence of Governor here and submitted his three page letter to Tandon.

The meeting between Nath and Tandon, who returned to Bhopal last night after a Holi vacation, came as deadline for rebel MLAs to appear before Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati neared. They were expected to submit their official resignations later in the day.

Twenty-two MLAs of the state resigned as members of the Legislative Assembly but did not do so in person. Of these, 19 MLAs have been staying in Bengaluru.

In his letter to the Governor, Nath alleged horse trading of MLAs by BJP citing the "unenthical and illegal" acts of the BJP in the state.

He also cited the sequence of horse trading events in the state from March 3-4 night.

Nath further said that after the attempts of BJP were foiled by the Congress on March 4, the BJP again indulged in horse trading by transporting 19 party MLAs to Bengaluru by three chartered plains on March 8.

He also said that the the resignation letter of the Congress MLAs were handed over to the Speaker by the BJP leader.

"We assure the people of Madhya Pradesh that we will not leave any stone unturned to ensure the triumph of democracy and the legislative process, to uphold the Constitution and the values enshrined therein.

"We request the Governor may use his good office as Constitutional Head of the state with the Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) to ensure the release of MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru," Nath said in his letter.

State government ministers Govind Singh Rajput, Pradyuman Singh Tomar, Imrati Devi, Tulsi Silavat, Prabhuram Chaudhary, Mahendra Singh Sisodia besides MLAs Hardeep Singh Dung, Jaspal Singh Jajji, Rajwardhan Singh, OPS Bhadoria, Munna Lal Goyal, Raghuraj Singh Kansana, Kamlesh Jatav, Brijendra Singh Yadav, Suresh Dhakad, Girraj Dandautia, Raksha Santram Sironia, Ranveer Jatav, Jaswant Jatav are the ones who resigned.