Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday submitted a fresh proposal to Governor Kalraj Mishra to start the Assembly session from July 31, NDTV reported. However, Gehlot said the agenda of the session would be the coronavirus crisis and not a floor test.
This is the second time the chief minister has urged the governor to convene a session of the Assembly. Mishra had earlier turned down Gehlot’s proposal, pointing out that his letter of request did not mention a date or a reason for the session. He questioned why the Congress wanted to convene an Assembly session to prove its majority when it claims it has the required numbers. Mishra further pointed out that the decision on the disqualification case of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and the rebel MLAs was still pending in court.
Gehlot, however, alleged that the governor is under pressure to not convene Assembly. He called it a “BJP conspiracy” to stall the floor test and overthrow his government. On Saturday, the chief minister said the Congress would approach President Ram Nath Kovind or protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence if needed to convene an Assembly session.
Meanwhile, a 12-member Bharatiya Janata Party delegation had also met Mishra and claimed the Congress government is heading towards a “constitutional crisis”. The saffron party demanded Gehlot’s resignation for warning that people of the state will lay siege to the governor’s house in large numbers if an Assembly session is not convened.
The Congress has repeatedly demanded that a floor test be conducted to end the political crisis in the state, which began after Pilot revolted against Gehlot’s leadership and proceeded to Delhi with some MLAs. Pilot was sacked as the Rajasthan deputy chief minister and as the Congress’ state unit chief on July 14. The next day, Assembly Speaker CP Joshi sent disqualification notices to Pilot and 18 other legislators. If Pilot and the other MLAs are disqualified, it will help the chief minister by bringing the majority mark down.
The notices were served after the MLAs defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings to resolve the political crisis in the state. However, the MLAs challenged the notice in the Rajasthan High Court on the ground that a party whip applies only when the Assembly is in session.
After the rebel MLAs approached the High Court, the Speaker was initially asked to defer action by three days. But on July 24, Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs got partial relief from the High Court, which ordered maintenance of status quo on the disqualification notices. The court order put the disqualification procedure on hold.
Before the political crisis erupted, the Congress had the backing of 125 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, including 107 of its own legislators. 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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