Rajasthan Government crisis Live: Rajasthan government crisis LIVE updates: File photo of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with his former deputy Sachin Pilot.
Rajasthan Government crisis Live Updates: Rajasthan High Court has resumed hearing the petition filed by Sachin Pilot and his rebel camp, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by the state Assembly speaker. The process is likely to be drawn out even in the event of a ruling as the judgment would be challenged in the Supreme Court.
The rebels were served the disqualification notices after the Congress complained to the speaker that the lawmakers had defied the party whip to attend two Legislature Party meetings last week on Monday and Tuesday. The Pilot camp, however, argues that a party whip applies only when the Assembly is in session.
Meanwhile, sources told The Indian Express that Pilot is in touch with AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The two spoke over the phone in the weekend, sources said. The top leadership, including Priyanka, is open to meeting Pilot, they added. The BJP, however, believes that the crisis in the Rajasthan Congress has gone past the point of no-return.
Rajasthan government crisis LIVE updates: The Congress MLAs at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's residence last Monday. (File)
'Voluntary giving up of party membership' to be read widely; no need for formal resignation; giving up of membership can be inferred from conduct, Singhvi submits, from the SC decision in Ravi Naik case (1994).
According to one calculation within the BJP, there are 21 MLAs in the Pilot camp, including the 19 Congress rebels and two Independents – Om Prakash Hudla (Mahuwa) and Suresh Tak (Kishangarh). These 21 MLAs, along with the BJP’s own 72 and three of its ally, the RLP, take the anti-Gehlot number in the 200-member Assembly to 96.
“Having come this far, it is not wise to not use this opportunity,” a senior BJP leader who is aware of the party’s plans in Rajasthan, said. The party has asked a clutch of tested leaders from its Rajasthan unit to explore the chances of winning over some MLAs currently in the Gehlot camp, the source said.
“The issue is that Gehlot has herded them (the MLAs) together at one place. This is making it difficult to gauge the minds of several MLAs who may not hesitate to jump the ship,” the source said.
State unit chief Satish Poonia and former minister Rajendra Singh Rathore have been tasked with coordinating the BJP’s efforts at the state level, sources said.
Sachin Pilot has not snapped contacts with the top leadership of the Congress even after moving the Rajasthan High Court to challenge the disqualification proceedings initiated against him and 18 other MLAs in the state.
Sources in the Congress said Pilot is in touch with AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The BJP, however, believes that the crisis in the Rajasthan Congress has gone past the point of no-return.
Lawyers indulge in sloganeering after being stopped from entering the Rajasthan High Court courtroom.
Singhvi says that the same arguments, which were considered and rejected by the SC, are being raised by Salve against the constitutionality of paragraph 2(1)(a) of the tenth schedule.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Congress MLAs, who are backing the Ashok Gehlot government amid the political turmoil in Rajasthan, were clicked at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur. On Sunday, a video of them emerged on social media in which they are seen playing ‘antakshari’ (a musical game).
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.
In another development, contempt notice issued to CS Rajeeva Swarup in former CM bungalow case.
The bonhomie between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his predecessor Vasundhara Raje, despite being political opponents, is known in the state’s political circles. But perhaps for the first time, thanks to a court case concerning a government bungalow to former Rajasthan chief ministers, it is out in the open.
More than four months since the Rajasthan High Court struck down the largesse, the Gehlot government seems to be doing its bit to help Raje retain her bungalow at the state capital’s upscale Civil Lines area.
On September 4 last year, the HC had held as “void” a 2017 amendment which provided former CMs — for the remainder of their lives — a government residence, a car, telephone and a staff of 10.
The proceedings before the Rajasthan High Court today will guide his next course of action. In the event of an adverse ruling, Pilot can be expected to move the Supreme Court to further delay action by the Speaker, who has been asked by the High Court to hold his hand until Tuesday evening.
But ultimately, it will be a question of arithmetic. If proceedings in court continue for some time, Pilot will have an opportunity to build up his numbers; a quick disposal of the matter will give Gehlot the chance to use the hanging sword of disqualification to orchestrate attrition in Pilot’s flock of 18 MLAs.
True to what we anticipated in the previous newsletter, the events in Jaipur have turned out to be a cracker of a political drama that has occupied more news space than both the limited disengagement at the LAC in Ladakh and the grim marker of India’s 1 million Covid-19 cases last week.
However, the political game that started in Jaipur the previous weekend is looking likely to be spread out for longer than the developments that took place in Bhopal this March.
In Madhya Pradesh, the incumbent Congress government was out of power within a fortnight of Jyotiraditya Scindia’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Rajasthan, the incumbent Chief Minister continues to sit tight, while berating the young rebel Sachin Pilot for his alleged impatience. Read More
Abhishek Singhvi, from the respondent's side, cites Keisham judgment 21.01.2020 in which SC held that the court cannot interfere in Speaker's power before any decision is made on disqualification. Singhvi cites 2016 Amrita Rawat vs Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly Speaker case, where the court had dismissed the petition which was filed against show cause notice of Speaker.
In his petition, Bhandari says:
# That the petitioner is a registered society formed to fight against corruption with the object to fight against corruption in various sectors of society
# That, the petitioners have challenged in its prayer clause 2(1)(a) of the tenth schedule read with Article 191 of the Constitution of India to be declared as ultra vires which will increase horse trading and corruption in the society as well as in the respective states
# That, the petition filed by the petitioners effects the voters who have voted for the clean democracy and thereby it is duty of applicant to protect the rights of the citizen of Rajasthan.
Advocate and General Secretary of Public Against Corruption sits on a protest outside the HC courtroom where rebel Congress MLA's petition is being heard. Bhandari has demanded the PAC be made a party in the case.
The hearing on a writ petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs from Rajasthan, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by the state Assembly speaker, resumed in Rajasthan high court today. The petition was taken up a by a bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta on Friday and arguments were heard. The counsel representing the Assembly speaker opened the arguments on Monday.
Sporting a Rajasthani saafa, with his right hand raised, the statue of former Union Minister Rajesh Pilot stands tall and is visible from a distance as one enters Dausa. Two decades ago, on June 11, 2000, he had died in a road accident a kilometre away from the spot.
Unable to forget the day, septuagenarian Shambhu Yogi, says most people in Dausa, which is less than 60 km from state capital Jaipur, continue to support the Pilot family. “Rajesh Pilot ji brought Dausa on the national map, he worked very hard for its development. On his death anniversary, Sachin Pilot and other politicians were here last month to pay their respects to him,” he says. Read More
In its complaint to the speaker, the Congress had sought action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2(1)(a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. The provision disqualifies MLAs if they "voluntarily" give up the membership of the party that they represent in the House. Pilot was sacked as the Rajasthan deputy chief minister and the president of the state Congress unit after he rebelled against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The hearing on a writ petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs from Rajasthan, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by the state Assembly speaker, will resume in the high court here at 10 am. The petition was taken up a by a bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta on Friday and arguments were heard. The notices to the MLAs were served after the party complained to the speaker that the lawmakers had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings last week on Monday and Tuesday. The Pilot camp, however, argues that a party whip applies only when the Assembly is in session.
Hello and welcome to our Rajasthan Government Crisis LIVE blog. Rajasthan High Court today will resume hearing the petition filed by Sachin Pilot and his rebel camp, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by the state Assembly speaker. The hearing will start at 10 am. Follow all the latest updates here