The Bharatiya Janata Party will on Friday move a no-confidence motion against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, said Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria. The state Assembly’s special session is scheduled to begin on Friday.
Vasundhara Raje and other Rajasthan BJP leaders met earlier in the day to discuss their plan for the Assembly session, according to NDTV.
Rajasthan BJP President Satish Poonia told ANI that there were a lot of differences within the state government. “The way they have struggled, there are chances that they might bring a vote of confidence in the Assembly but we are also ready to bring a no-confidence motion,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress revoked the suspension of MLAs Bhanwar Lal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh, who were sacked for allegedly being part of a conspiracy to oust the Gehlot-led government.
The Congress earlier this week managed to end sacked Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot’s revolt by constituting a three-member panel to address his grievances. Pilot’s revolt had pushed the Congress government in the state to the brink of collapse.
The six Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs in Rajasthan, who switched over to the Congress last year, will also be allowed to vote in the Gehlot led government’s trust vote. The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to pass an interim order on a petition to stay their merger with the Congress.
Gehlot holds key meeting
A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party was held at Gehlot’s residence in Jaipur at 5 pm. Sachin Pilot also attended the meeting. The two leaders were seen smiling and shaking hands at the meeting after over a month-long feud.
In a tweet earlier on Thursday, Gehlot had said that he believed in “forgiving and forgetting”. “The struggle of Congress party is to save the democracy under leadership of Sonia Gandhi ji and Rahul Gandhi ji,” he said. “Whatever misunderstanding occurred in the party in last one month, we need to forgive and forget in the interest of country, state, people and in the interest of democracy.”
During the political crisis in Rajasthan, Gehlot had repeatedly accused Pilot of colluding with the BJP to topple his government and had called him “nikamma” or useless.
Pilot, on the other hand, said he respected Gehlot but added that he also has the right to raise work-related concerns. “I raised issues of principles, never abused anyone nor do I have personal grudges,” Pilot had said. “I harbour no wish to have a post, these things come and go. We need to work in the direction of strengthening the public’s confidence and trust in us.”
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