Rajasthan Crisis: Team Sachin Pilot got another three-day breather yesterday.
Asked by a court to defer action against Sachin Pilot and other Congress rebels, the Rajasthan Speaker said today he had decided to go to the Supreme Court against the delay to "avert a constitutional crisis".
Speaker CP Joshi, who served disqualification notices to 19 rebel MLAs including Sachin Pilot for "anti-party activities", was first asked to defer action by three days last week. Yesterday, he was asked by the Rajasthan High Court not to take any action until Friday, when it will announce its decision on the rebels' petition challenging the notices.
"It is well-defined by the Supreme Court that only the Speaker can decide on anti-defection. The Speaker had full authority to send notice. It can be judicially reviewed only later, after the Speaker's decision," said Mr Joshi, calling the rebels' petition a dangerous precedent that could lead to a breakdown of constitutional rules.
The Speaker's move to seek the Supreme Court's intervention to restore his right to act against the rebels telegraphs his worry that the High Court verdict may not go in his favour. Yesterday, the Speaker's counsel had indicated to reporters that he would hold action on the notices in the spirit of "mutual respect" between the two institutions.
Action shifts to the Supreme Court alongside speculation that Ashok Gehlot is keen on a test of strength in the Rajasthan assembly now, before team Pilot gets any more room to win over more MLAs.
Team Sachin Pilot got its second three-day breather after the High Court finished hearing arguments yesterday on the case against disqualification notices served after the rebels skipped two meetings of Congress MLAs, which was construed as defying a whip. The rebels have argued that no whip can be in place when the assembly is not in session. They also told the court they have no plans to quit the Congress; they only want change in its Rajasthan leadership, read Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The court verdict will have a huge impact on a floor test in the Rajasthan assembly.
Mr Gehlot claims he has the support of 102 MLAs, one more than the majority mark. If team Pilot's 19 MLAs are disqualified, the majority mark will drop, giving the Chief Minister a far easier win.
If the rebels, however, win the High Court case and continue to be Congress members, they can vote against the government and cause huge trouble for Mr Gehlot.
Team Pilot has 19 members. With the BJP's 72, independents and smaller parties, the opposition tally is at 97.
Sachin Pilot's revolt against the Congress and his former boss Ashok Gehlot is now over a week old. The 42-year-old has been in Delhi with his rebel squad since he received summons on July 10 to answer questions on alleged attempts to bribe Congress MLAs to make a switch and help bring down the government in which he was deputy Chief Minister.
The Congress has made fruitless efforts at bringing around Sachin Pilot, who has firmly refused to consider any offer less than being named Chief Minister. Ashok Gehlot has been far less open to any rapprochement than his party - he has intensified investigations into what he calls "horse-trading" of MLAs and has repeatedly attacked Mr Pilot.
