Rajasthan Government crisis Live: Bharatiya Tribal Party members with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Jaipur on Saturday. (ANI)
Rajasthan Government crisis Live Updates: Amid a political firestorm in Rajasthan, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Gulab Chand Kataria Sunday said only a floor test can decide whether a government has the majority to stay in power or not. His statement came hours after Congress sources said there might be an assembly session later this week. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot too had met Governor Kalraj Mishra on Saturday.
Despite the party having minuscule presence in the Rajasthan Assembly, the Bhartiya Tribal Party Sunday said it was now in a position of kingmakers. “We have two MLAs in a House of 200, yet we are in the position of kingmakers,” party president Maheshbhai C Vasava told PTI on Sunday. Vasava added the party was now extending support to the Gehlot government after an assurance that its demands related to the development of tribal areas will be met.
The political row over the audio tapes continued on Sunday after the Congress demanded the resignation of Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for his alleged role in the conspiracy to topple the Asok Gehlot government. “If Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is claiming that it is not his voice and the reference in the audio clip is of some other Gajendra Singh, then why is he afraid of giving voice samples?” Congress leader Ajay Maken asked.
BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra addresses a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday. (PTI)
"The decision on when and how the floor test will take place has to be taken by the chief minister and the government," senior party leader Ajay Maken said when questioned over the speculation. "It is the CM's discretion to go ahead when required and if it is required," PTI quoted him as saying.
The BJP's Gulab Chand Kataria, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly, said only a floor test can decide whether the government is in majority or not.
The government's decision to take floor test in the Assembly may also depend on Monday's proceedings in the Rajasthan High Court, where a division bench is hearing a plea filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs against the Speaker's disqualification notice.
The dissident MLAs on the other hand want the court to quash the notice sent by Speaker C P Joshi based on a Congress complaint that the Pilot camp had skipped two legislative party meetings despite a whip, and should be disqualified from the assembly. The Speaker, who has sought the MLAs' replies, will be able act on the notices only on Tuesday evening, the court had said.
Days after the party asked its two MLAs to abstain from voting for any side in case of a floor test in Rajasthan Assembly, the Bharatiya Tribal Party’s (BTP) two legislators had on Saturday extended support to the Ashok Gehlot government, saying that they want the elected government to last for its entire five-year term. Gehlot tweeted that the duo extended support to the government after a meeting with him about their demands. He also posted images of the two legislators, along with BTP office-bearers, giving him a demand letter.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot leaves Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur. Congress MLAs supporting CM Gehlot are staying at the hotel.
Despite the party having minuscule presence in the Rajasthan Assembly, the Bhartiya Tribal Party Sunday said it was now in a position of kingmakers. “We have two MLAs in a House of 200, yet we are in the position of kingmakers,” party president Maheshbhai C Vasava told PTI on Sunday. Vasava added the party was now extending support to the Gehlot government after an assurance that its demands related to the development of tribal areas will be met.
Rajasthan Government crisis Live: Bharatiya Tribal Party members with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Jaipur on Saturday. (ANI)
day after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Governor Kalraj Mishra, Congress sources on Sunday said a brief session of the state assembly may be called this week. "The government has all options open, including a brief assembly session," they said amid a political crisis caused by party leader Sachin Pilot's rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Meanwhile, Congress leader Ajay Maken in a press conference said, "The decision on when and how the floor test will happen, it has to be taken by the chief minister and the government. It is the CM's discretion to move forward when required and if it is required." (PTI)
The Congress demanded Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's resignation on Sunday for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan. Party leader and former Union minister Ajay Maken said the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Rajasthan police has registered a case in connection with the audio tapes of a purported conversation between Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma, Shekhawat and one Sanjay Jain. "If Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is claiming that it is not his voice and the reference in the audio clip is of some other Gajendra Singh, then why is he afraid of giving voice samples?" Maken asked. (PTI)
A video of Congress legislators, who are backing the Ashok Gehlot government amid the political turmoil in Rajasthan, has emerged on social media in which they are seen playing ‘antakshari’ (a musical game) at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur.
In the 42-second clipping, the MLAs are heard singing the popular Hindi song “hum honge kamyaab”, in an apparent signal that the party will overcome the political crisis, which erupted after former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot claimed that the government has been reduced to a minority.
Speaking to PTI, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also said: "I heard that he (Pilot) may form a new party. But what is the need for it. Has Congress not given him anything? He was made an MP at 26, a Union minister at 32, the state Congress president at 34 and deputy chief minister at 38. What else does he want? Time is on his side," If Pilot had any issue, then as the state party unit president, he should have called a meeting and discussed the matter, he added. Pilot could have involved Congress national general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pande in talks with Gehlot to resolve differences, he said. "If you have faith in your legislators, why have you have confined 18-19 of them in ITC Grand hotel at Manesar in Haryana," Singh said.
Ajay Maken said: "If Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is claiming that it is not his voice and the reference in the audio clip is of some other Gajendra Singh, then why is he afraid of giving voice samples?" He added that Shekhawat has no moral authority to continue as a Union minister and should resign so that the investigation is not influenced.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Rajasthan minister Pratap Khachariyawas said: "The MHA jumped into this (audio tapes) matter as their political leaders told them that they may get trapped since the SOG has evidence and the audio clip is authentic. The nation knows the chief minister's honesty. He said he would retire from politics if the audio is proven to be false. After this, Gajendra Singh, Gulab Chand Kataria, Satish Poonia, Rajendra Rathore declared the audio to be false. Can they give a statement like the CM? Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leader Amit Shah should come to the front and should say if they will resign."
Continuing his address to the media, Ajay Maken said: "Now that Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been named in the FIR and his voice recognised in the audiotape, why is he still holding the post of a Union Minister? The Congress demands that either he resigns or is removed so that he cannot influence the probe. I heard that he is saying that the voice in the audiotape is not his but of another Gajendra Singh. If it is so, he should give his voice sample and step down from the post until the probe is completed."
Blaming the BJP for the political drama in Rajasthan, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday asked Sachin Pilot not to leave the grand old party. In an interview to news agency PTI, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said Pilot should not follow Jyotiraditya Scindia into the BJP, as he has bright future in Congress. "The BJP is behind the crisis in Rajasthan," Singh said. "Age is on your side. Ashok (Gehlot) may have offended you, but all such issues are best resolved amicably. Dont make the mistake that Scindia made. BJP is unreliable. Nobody who joined it from any other party has succeeded there," Singh said. He said this is the first time that Pilot hasn't responded to him. "Sachin is like my son. He respects me and I also like him. I called him three-four times and also texted him. He didn't revert. He used to respond immediately earlier," he said. "It is good to be ambitious. How can one move forward without having ambitions, but along with ambition, one must also have commitment to your organisation, ideology and the nation," Singh said.
Ajay Maken added: "Why was Rajasthan Police stopped by the Haryana government to take voice samples of Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh. Why did Rajasthan's rebel Congress MLAs choose Haryana for camping? The BJP's role is clear: If BJP has no role, then why are the Centre, Haryana government, ED and I-T dept giving security to the rebel Congress MLAs? The BJP is giving threat of CBI action to save its leaders."
Congress leader Ajay Maken today said that his party wants Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to give voice sample to end the row over the audio clips. "It is betrayal of people's mandate and murder of democracy if an elected government is toppled with money power," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Congress MLA Rajendra Guda said: "Sanjay Jain (arrested by SOG, Rajasthan Police) had come to me eight months back. He had asked me to meet Vasundhara ji and others. There are other agents like him but they didn't succeed in their attempts. Sanjay Jain had been active for a long time." He added, "We are more than 100 in number (MLAs). We have the majority. If we didn't have majority, they (BJP) would have demanded a floor test. They know that we have it, so they are not demanding the floor test."
Congress MLAs supporting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot play 'antakshari' at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur.
GC Kataria, Leader of Opposition, today said: "BJP had never demanded floor test, not even now. We are watching their fight. When the time is right and we have to do something, we will discuss and move in that direction. As of now, we are being unnecessarily dragged into this matter."
Dismissing the Congress’s allegation that the BJP raised Rs 500 crore from traders in Mumbai to topple the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan, the saffron party on Saturday called it an attempt to divert people’s attention from the Maharashtra government’s failure in tackling the Covid-19 crisis in the state. Maharashtra has a coalition government of the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress. “It is a baseless allegation by Congress…. There seems to be a competition among Congress (leaders) to make baseless statements such as BJP is toppling the MVA government (in Maharashtra), or conspiring to topple the government in Rajasthan,” Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council and BJP leader Pravin Darekar said. Darekar said the Congress or the Maharashtra government should bring the facts — about money being raised in Mumbai — before the public, or they should apologise to the people.
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."