The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to pass an interim order on a petition seeking a stay on the merger of six Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs in Rajasthan with the Congress, Live Law reported. The ruling means these six legislators, who switched over to the Congress last year, are likely to be allowed to vote in the Ashok-Gehlot led government’s trust vote, which is supposed to take place in the Assembly on Friday.

“We will not interfere in this case at this stage since [Rajasthan] High Court is already hearing it,” the top court said, according to NDTV.

Advertisement

Last week, the Rajasthan High Court had dismissed a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madan Dilawar, seeking an immediate stay on the merger of the former BSP MLAs with the Congress government amid political turmoil in the state.

Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali, Deepchand Kheria, Lakhan Meena, Jogendra Awana and Rajendra Gudha won the Assembly elections in 2018 and joined the Congress in September.

Gehlot has been claiming the support of 102 MLAs, including the Independents, in the 200-member Assembly. Without the BSP MLAs, the numbers will drop to 96. The BJP has 72 MLAs.