HC breather for Sachin Pilot camp till Friday, but Ashok Gehlot readies counter-strike

JAIPUR: Amid the crisis over survival of his government, chief minister Ashok Gehlot called a cabinet meeting at his residence on Tuesday. The meeting’s official agenda was to review the state’s Covid-19 situation and financial crisis, but sources said the cabinet discussed the present political crisis too and gave nod for calling a special session of the state assembly to pre-empt the opposition’s alleged moves to topple the Gehlot government.
In a related development, the Rajasthan High Court completed hearing on the Sachin Pilot camp’s joint petition challenging the Speaker’s disqualification notices, reserving its decision till July
24. A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty, ‘requested’ the Speaker not to act on the notices till its order on Friday. Later, the Speaker’s office issued a statement that action on notices to the 19 MLAs has been suspended considering “judicial propriety and dignity”.
Sources said the CM too would wait until the high court’s judgment on Friday before requesting governor Kalraj Mishra to call the assembly’s special session. Among the options other than seeking a trust vote directly, the government was considering bringing a bill during the special assembly session and issuing a whip to its MLAs to support it. The government needs to seek assembly approval for the Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020 that was notified in May to ensure compliance of directions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. A whip for the bill/ ordinance would make it mandatory for the dissident legislators to attend the assembly proceedings or face disqualification.
“The government would prefer to see the dissident MLAs disqualified before going for a trust vote because it presently rests on a thin majority in the 200-member house. Disqualification of 19 MLAs would bring down the majority mark from 101 to 92,” said a veteran Congress strategist involved in the current crisis.
Minus the dissidents, the Congress tally in the house would be 88. It has claimed support of five MLAs from other parties and 10 independents, taking the figure to 103.
‘An attempt being made to weaken democracy’
Even if the Speaker and a hospitalised cabinet minister do not vote, the ruling party’s effective strength could be 101, well above the reduced majority mark of 92.
Earlier in the day, Gehlot addressed a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting and said the party’s government in Rajasthan was “strong and stable” and would complete its full term of five year even though the party’s former state president Sachin Pilot and “some” legislators where trying to topple it in collusion with the BJP.
The CLP meeting was held at a luxury hotel on the city outskirts where the party legislators have been kept since July 13, a day after Pilot claimed he had support of 30 MLAs and that the Gehlotgovernment was in a minority. It later turned out that Pilot had just 18 Congress MLAs with him. This was the third CLP meeting since July 13.
“Truth is god, god is truth and the truth is with us. Therefore, under every circumstance, the victory will be ours, of the truth,” Gehlot told his MLAs, 86 in number, minus the Pilot camp, an ailing cabinet minister and the Speaker.
Targeting Pilot and his band of MLAs who were shifting locations outside Rajasthan, Gehlot said, “Those playing the hide-and-seek game cannot be saying truth because truth never hides.”
“We are putting up a strong fight against Covid-19, while the Congress’ own former state president and some MLAs are conspiring with the BJP to topple the government. This is unbearable and condemnable. Those betraying the party will not be able to show their faces to the people,” Gehlot said.
“An attempt is being made to weaken democracy across the nation, but Rajasthan’s Congress legislators are fighting to save it. The fight will continue till the victory of the truth,” he added.
Gehlot thanked 10 independents, two BTP and one RLD legislators who are supporting the state Congress government. The CM expressed confidence that the two CPM MLAs too would support the Congress government.