Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday met Governor Kalraj Mishra at the Raj Bhawan in Jaipur, after two legislators of the Bharatiya Tribal Party announced they will support his government in the state, NDTV reported.
The BTP, which has two MLAs in the Rajasthan Assembly, had initially asked its legislators to remain neutral and not align either with Gehlot or sacked rebel leader Sachin Pilot. But they decided to extend their support after meeting their state executive officials and discussing their demands, Gehlot said in a tweet. Losing the legislators would have brought down numbers for the chief minister as the Congress struggles to keep its flock protected from Pilot’s camp of dissident MLAs.
This came days after the two BTP MLAs had alleged they were being held hostage by the police amid the political crisis in the state. Rajkumar Roat, the MLA from Chorasi, had accused the police of misbehaving with him.
The two BTP members were among 101 lawmakers who had attended the Congress legislature party meeting at a Jaipur hotel on Tuesday. They had left the hotel saying they would take a call on supporting the party at an “appropriate time,” according to the Hindustan Times.
Before the crisis erupted, the Congress had the backing of 125 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, including 107 of its own lawmakers. As many as 13 Independents and five MLAs from other parties support it. The majority mark in the Rajasthan Assembly is 101. The BJP has 72 legislators and has the support of three Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLAs.
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‘Not on speaking terms with Sachin Pilot for last 18 months’
Meanwhile, Gehlot on Saturday said he has not been on speaking terms with Pilot for the past 18 months, the Hindustan Times reported, quoting an interview the chief minister gave to a TV channel.
“There was no dialogue between us since the last one and a half years,” Gehlot said. “A minister who doesn’t talk to the chief minister, doesn’t take his advice, keeps no dialogue with him... There can be opposition, but dialogue is necessary in a democracy.”
The power struggle between Gehlot and his deputy had been going on for quite some time, but the latest crisis was triggered after Pilot was summoned by the Rajasthan Anti-Terror Squad and the Special Operations Group last week.
The SOG had sought time from Pilot to record his statement in a case of conspiracy and sedition registered after attempts were allegedly made by the BJP to bribe Congress MLAs to switch sides during last month’s Rajya Sabha elections. However, Gehlot had pointed out that the notice was misinterpreted, adding that a similar notice was sent to him as well.
Gehlot, however, added that in case Pilot decides to return to the Congress, he will welcome the leader “with a hug”.“He was three years old when I became MP for the first time,” the chief minister said. “I have ties with his family going back decades. I will welcome him with a hug.”
The Congress leader claimed that Pilot and the legislators supporting him had planned to flee on June 10, but he had managed to quell their attempts. “They were planning to leave at 2 am,” he said. “I had to save the government. I woke up all the collectors at 1 am and I asked all party leaders to reach Jaipur the next day and almost all of them reached.”
The chief minister also claimed that while Pilot wanted to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, his MLAs were unwilling to do so.
The political crisis in Rajasthan
Pilot was sacked as the Rajasthan deputy chief minister and as the Congress’ state unit chief on July 14, after he rebelled against Gehlot and proceeded with a few MLAs to Delhi. The following day, Assembly Speaker CP Joshi disqualified Pilot and 18 other legislators.
The dissident legislators filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court, which on Friday directed the Speaker not to take any action against them till July 21.
A Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police was sent to Manesar in Gurugram on Friday, to seek out the MLAs who are holed up in a hotel. Particularly, the team wanted to question Bhanwar Lal Sharma. But they were stopped and detained at the entrance for nearly an hour before being allowed to go in. The Congress cited this as evidence of a BJP conspiracy to destabilise the Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan.
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