4 BSP legislators give Raj govt the jitters

JAIPUR: Congress in Rajasthan faced anxious moments on Monday when four of six BSP MLAs who are backing the Gehlot regime sought an appointment with governor Kalyan Singh at 5pm.
There was speculation over the move all through the day, coming as it does after Congress's rout in the LS polls in Rajasthan. However, the MLAs cancelled the appointment just 45 minutes before the scheduled time, providing much relief to Congress.
In the 200-member assembly, Congress has 100 MLAs besides the support of the sole legislator of its pre-poll ally, RLD. But, soon after the assembly results in December last year, six BSP MLAs had pledged outside support. Besides, during Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's Jaipur rally during the Lok Sabha poll campaign, 12 of 13 Independents had also pledged support to the government.
A senior Congress leader who monitored the situation on Monday said, "The worst we expected was that they would send a letter withdrawing support. But that would not have affected us as we have the required numbers besides the support of Independents."
Raj Bhavan sources confirmed the BSP MLAs, Wajib Ali, Lakhan Singh Meena, Sandeep Yadav and Joginder Awana, had sought appointment with the governor.