Rajasthan Congress in-charge and the party’s National General Secretary Avinash Pande on Sunday said the Ashok Gehlot government is fully prepared to face a floor test in the Assembly as the political crisis in the state shows no signs of abating, The Hindu reported.
“Ashok Gehlotji has the numbers but we are fully prepared,” he told the newspaper. “If the situation demands, then the chief minister can decide on convening a special session of the Rajasthan Assembly.”
Pande added that the party is awaiting the decision of the Rajasthan High Court, which on Friday directed Assembly Speaker CP Joshi to not take any action on the disqualification notices issued to sacked Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other rebel Congress MLAs till July 21 evening.
The Congress general secretary said the decision will be based on “merit” if some rebel MLAs want to return to the party fold. “The MLAs who didn’t follow the instruction of the Congress Legislature Party should first give a satisfactory reply to the Honorable Speaker’s notice that was issued after our complaint,” Pande said. “The party can then decide on merit if some of the Congress MLAs want to come back.”
He, however, refused to comment on whether the Congress would make any further attempt to speak to Pilot. Pandey alleged that the dissident MLAs are “fully controlled” by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal attacked the BJP in a tweet, saying that a “vaccine” was needed against a “virus” from Delhi that topples elected governments.
Meanwhile, a Congress MLA claimed that former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is involved in horse-trading. “Sanjay Jain had asked me to meet Vasundharaji and others,” Rajendra Guda told ANI. “There are other agents like him but they didn’t succeed in their attempts. Sanjay Jain had been active for a long time.”
Jain has been arrested by the Special Operation Group, which is investigating the audio tapes allegedly revealing efforts at luring lawmakers with money.
The Congress government won back the support of Bharatiya Tribal Party, which has two members in the Assembly, when a delegation of party leaders handed over a letter of support to Gehlot on Saturday. The BTP had earlier issued a whip to its two MLAs to remain neutral in case of a floor test. The Congress had earlier claimed the support of 109 MLAs in the house of 200.
Also read:
Explainer: How the Pilot vs Gehlot fight in Rajasthan is different from Congress being toppled in MP
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!