Rajasthan Government crisis Live: Bharatiya Tribal Party members with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Jaipur on Saturday. (ANI)
Rajasthan Government crisis Live Updates: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is likely to call for a brief assembly session on Wednesday to prove his strength in the House after former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot claimed the government has been reduced to a minority. Gehlot has claimed to have the support of 109 MLAs in the 200-member House.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the Rajasthan government over alleged phone-tapping a day after the state filed FIRs over two audio tapes purportedly showing a plot to topple it. Late on Saturday evening, PTI reported that the Union Home Ministry had sent a communication to the Rajasthan Chief Secretary, seeking a report on the allegations of phone tapping.
The Congress government in the state, that is fighting a revolt by 19 MLAs, had accused the BJP of being behind the conspiracy. The BJP on Saturday said this showed that phones of political leaders in the state were being tapped, and demanded a CBI probe.
BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra addresses a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday. (PTI)
At the centre of the war in the with conversations between three people purportedly plotting to dislodge the Ashok Gehlot government. The Congress has identified two of them as its rebel MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Little is known about the third alleged person in the tapes, and the only one arrested in the case: Sanjay Jain alias Sanjay Bardia. The tapes mention “Gajendra Singh”, and though the Congress says that this is actually Shekhawat, the FIRs filed by the state government with the Rajasthan Police and Anti-Corruption Bureau do not say so. As for Jain, both the BJP and Congress accuse him of being close to the other party. That is both true, and false. A native of Lunkaransar in Bikaner who shifted to Jaipur 15-20 years ago, Jain is known in the state capital’s political circles as a middleman who floated between the two parties. Click here to read more.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia said: "Since the ACS (Home) has said he is not aware of the phone tapping, the question is - can the Rajasthan government permit any such tapping? The Home Ministry has taken cognizance of this matter and I think many things will come into fore."
In our print edition today, columnist Tavleen Singh writes: Nobody has come out of this squalid saga looking good. The BJP looks like a political party that is so greedy for power that it would risk creating political instability in a major state at a time when it should be thinking of the country and not political power. It has been losing the moral high ground ever since the Maharashtra election, when Devendra Fadnavis tried to become chief minister in that sordid little midnight coup. Then came the toppling of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and the induction into the BJP of a man who has always spoken out against the BJP’s fundamental ideology. And, now this. The Congress party is in a worse position in every way. Its dirty laundry has not only been washed in public, it is still hanging on a public clothesline. Ashok Gehlot did himself no favours when he accused his former deputy of believing that it was enough to ‘speak good English and have a handsome personality’. These may not be qualifications to rise to the political pinnacle but they are not disqualifications. If he remains Chief Minister it would do no harm for Gehlot to look less scruffy and improve his linguistic skills. He may boast about having risen from rustic grassroots but let us remember that he is working hard to bring his son into electoral politics and start his own mini dynasty.
Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Saturday urged the people to extend support to flood-hit Assam and Bihar "My thoughts and prayers with all those families affected by the Assam & Bihar floods. Over 68 lives lost & 3.6 million people affected in Assam alone. I appeal to all Indians, to come together, join in the efforts to help support those affected in these extreme flood situations," he tweeted.
In today's print edition, Meghnad Desai writes: The Congress leadership chose to set aside young leaders in favour of the Old Guard. The young were the recent members of old dynasties while the Old Guard wanted to establish their dynasty. In a dynasty-run party, succession matters more than success. So when Jyotiraditya Scindia left the Congress and joined the BJP, it was a no-brainer that Sachin Pilot would go as well. So the next step will be the departure of Ashok Gehlot the way Kamal Nath went. Nothing will be done to prevent it. Neither by the push me-pull you Rahul Gandhi nor by the longest serving Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The gerontocracy of have beens who are the powers behind the throne(s) would rather let the party die than give up their power. The defeat of 2014 was not acknowledged nor has the second defeat of 2019 been admitted. The lack of urgency is pathetic.
On the Centre seeking a report from the Rajasthan government over BJP's allegations of phone tapping, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi tweeted: "Serious allegations of horse trading and toppling regarding various Rajasthan MLAs, including Central Minister. Police inquiry, FIR and Crl process on. To avoid completion of Crl process, BJP conveniently demands CBI. MHA immly steps in. Wl hand over to CBI to give clean chit and thwart truth!"
Taking to Twitter on Sunday morning, Sibal took a swipe at the Centre over "virus" in a "Wuhan like facility in Delhi". He said: "Need for vaccine: Virus of 'corrupt means' to topple elected governments has spread through a 'Wuhan like facility' in Delhi. It’s 'antibodies' lie in amending the Tenth Schedule. Ban all defectors from: Holding public office for five years Fighting the next election."
On Saturday, senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that elected representatives should be barred from holding public office for five years and from contesting the next election if they defect. Sibal, who was addressing a webinar, said that the "endemic" of defection is due to human greed and hunger for power. "No law can prevent it (defection). The only solution is that if anyone defects they shall not hold public office for five years and cannot contest in the next election. These are the two elements that need to change," Sibal, who was responding to a question on the political crisis, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the Rajasthan government over alleged phone-tapping a day after the state filed FIRs over two audio tapes purportedly showing a plot to topple it. Late on Saturday evening, PTI reported that the Union Home Ministry had sent a communication to the Rajasthan Chief Secretary, seeking a report on the allegations of phone tapping. The Congress government in the state, that is fighting a revolt by 19 MLAs, had accused the BJP of being behind the conspiracy. The BJP on Saturday said this showed that phones of political leaders in the state were being tapped, and demanded a CBI probe.
The Ashok Gehlot government Saturday secured the support of the two Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) MLAs in the Rajasthan Assembly, taking the number of legislators backing it (excluding the 19 rebels) to 103 in a House of 200. The government claims at least 109 are with it. Earlier, the BTP had asked the two to abstain from backing any side in case of a test vote.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is likely to call for a brief assembly session on Wednesday to prove his strength in the House after former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot claimed the government has been reduced to a minority. Gehlot has claimed to have the support of 109 MLAs in the 200-member House. Follow our blog for all the latest updates on the ongoing political turmoil in the state.