Citing political unrest, BSP chief Mayawati demands President's Rule in Rajasthan

NEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday demanded President's Rule in Rajasthan citing political unrest and instability in the state.
In a series of tweets, Mayawati says there is a serious threat to democratic norms and Gehlot is resorting to illegalities, therefore, it is advisable to impose president rule in the state to stop further violation of constitutional norms.
"In the wake of ongoing political unrest, instability the governor should take a stalk of the situation and request for President's Rule in the state to save the democracy," she tweeted.

She said Gehlot himself was biggest architect of flouting anti defection law by merging the BSP MLAs in Congress on two occasions.
"First, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot violated the anti-Defection law and included BSP MLAs into his party and now by openly proclaiming the tapping of phones by his government, he has committed another illegal and unconstitutional act," she added.
On September 16, 2019, all the 6 BSP MLAs in Rajasthan had joined the Congress, thus taking the strength of the Congress to 106 seats in the assembly.
Soon after Mayawati's demand for a President's Rule, the Congress hit back at the BSP supremo calling her a "majboor neta".
"Mayawati is a “majboor neta”. She has certain compulsions, fears and helplessness, which force her to come out with such comments to help the BJP," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said in a statement.
The Congress spokesperson added that the BJP seemed to have accepted that corruption and horse-trading happened in Rajasthan but only had a problem with why this was recorded and whether the process was legal.
Khera also targetted former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot after it was reported that a group of dissidents are currently holed up inside a hotel in Haryana's Manesar.
"Why does Sachin Pilot have more faith in the BJP-led Haryana police than the Rajasthan police. He says in court he is still with Congress. But this exposes the BJP hand in the goings-on," Khera said.
Earlier this week, former Rajasthan minister Ramesh Meena hit back at chief minister Ashok Gehlot's allegations about horse-trading and asked him how much money was paid to BSP MLAs who switched over to the Congress in his previous tenure.
Ramesh Meena, who was among those Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislators who made the switch to Congress, said: "The chief minister should honestly tell how much money was paid to us when we joined Congress and left the the BSP in the last Congress government."
(With inputs from agencies)