Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Governor Kaliraj Mishra.
Rajasthan Government crisis Live Updates: Hours after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot chaired a cabinet meet, the state government on Tuesday sent a revised proposal to governor seeking assembly session from July 31. The Cabinet discussed the points raised by Governor Kalraj Mishra and said it is sticking to its demand for holding the session from July 31. Responding to Governor’s query about safety in light of Covid, the state government said ” it is prerogative of the speaker.” Asked about the agenda of the proposed session, Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said it was for the Business Advisory Committee of the assembly to decide.
This is the third time Ashok Gehlot government has sent a proposal to the Governor for an assembly session, amid the crisis the Congress faces in the state after a rebellion by Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs. The Congress has alleged that the Mishra is acting “under pressure” from the BJP government at the Centre.
Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati has warned the six MLAs who joined the Congress last year to vote against the Ashok Gehlot government in any no-confidence motion or other proceedings held during the Assembly session in Rajasthan or face expulsion. “BSP could have gone to the court earlier too but we were looking for a time to teach Congress party and CM Ashok Gehlot a lesson. We will not let this matter alone. We will go even to the Supreme Court. We have asked the 6 MLAs, who are elected to the Rajasthan Assembly on the symbol of BSP, to vote against Congress in any proceedings to be held during the Rajasthan Assembly Session. If they don’t do so, their party membership will be cancelled,” she said, news agency ANI reported.
CM Ashok Gehlot walks out of Raj Bhavan with his supporters in Jaipur Friday.
BSP chief Mayawati has warned the six MLAs who joined the Congress last year to vote against the Ashok Gehlot government in any no-confidence motion or other proceedings held during the Assembly session in Rajasthan or face expulsion.
Rajasthan BJP MLA Madan Dilawar on Tuesday filed two writ petitions challenging the assembly Speaker's decision to reject his complaint against the merger of six BSP MLAs with the Congress. The first petition was filed this morning against a communication received from the assembly secretariat Monday that the complaint has been decided and rejected by the Speaker, the counsel for Dilawar said. "Today, we got a detailed order of the Speaker (about the rejection of the complaint). Thereafter, we filed a second petition challenging the detailed order," the counsel said.
Dilawar had filed his complaint to the Speaker in March, and on July 24, he moved the high court alleging inaction by the Speaker on the issue he raised. The High Court on Monday dismissed his petition as "having become infructuous" as the Speaker passed the order later on July 24. In the fresh petitions filed on Tuesday against the Speaker's order, the MLA has challenged the validity, legality and correctness of the Speaker's July 24 order on his complaint filed in March. In his complaint to the Speaker, he had prayed that the BSP MLAs be disqualified from the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha under para 2 of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. Dilawar has alleged he was not heard by the Speaker before he decided his complaint on July 24. (PTI)
"Congress is another name for horse trading" said JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday as he slammed the party's erstwhile state ally for its nationwide "Save Democracy" campaign against the BJP, accusing it of trying to topple democratically elected governments. The former Chief Minister said Congress is an expert in dividing political parties and purchasing MLAs. In fact, the term horse trading in politics came to be in use because of it, he said. "Congress has launched a nation-wide Save Democracy, campaign against the BJP which is buying MLAs to topple democratically elected governments. What has the Congress done? Haven't they lured all BSP MLAs who supported the Congress to form the government in Rajasthan? Is this not a buyout?" Kumaraswamy asked.
The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday sought response from the state government on a petition challenging a lower court order directing investigation against Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and others in a cooperative society scam case. The High Court, however, did not issue a stay restraining the order of the lower court asking the Special Operations Group (SOG) to investigate?Shekhawat's role in connection with the Rs 884-crore Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam. The order has been passed on a petition filed by one Kewal Chand Dakalia, the shareholder director of Navprabha Buildtech Pvt Ltd which is said to be linked with Shekhawat. Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani argued the matter on behalf of the petitioner from Mumbai via video conference. The High Court has asked the state government to file its response by August 5.
Responding to Governor's query about safety in light of Covid, the state government said " it is prerogative of the speaker."
Hours after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot chaired a cabinet meet, the state government has sent a revised proposal to governor seeking assembly session from July 31, PTI reported quoting spurces.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, BSP chief Mayawati slammed Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state, saying they are crying foul over the “stealing of its MLAs” while they themselves took away six BSP legislators last year. “Congress is crying foul now when its stolen assets are being stolen. It is akin to the proverb ‘ulta chor kotwal ko daante’ (the pot calling the kettle black),” she added.
Six BSP MLAs had merged with the Rajasthan BSP into the Congress in September last year. This had come after the two parties had fought the 2018 state elections and 2019 Lok Sabha election together. In 2009, six BSPs had joined the Congress government in Rajasthan. Incidentally, it was again Gehlot who was the chief minister of the state at that time.
BJP MLA Madan Dilawar on Tuesday filed a fresh writ petition in the Rajasthan High Court challenging the decision of the state assembly speaker to reject his complaint over six BSP MLAs joining the Congress. The high court on Monday dismissed Dilawar's writ petition as "having become infructuous" as the speaker had passed an order on the complaint.
In the petition, he had questioned speaker's inaction on his complaint which he had filed in March this year, asking for the BSP MLAs to be disqualified from the membership of the Rajasthan Assembly as they had incurred disqualification under para 2 of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. In the fresh plea, the MLA on Tuesday challenged the validity, legality and correctness of the order passed by the speaker on July 24 on the complaint. Dilawar alleged that he was not heard by the speaker while taking a decision. (PTI)
The last week has seen a litany of unprecedented assaults by institutions that were once charged with holding the line. These institutions have not just acquiesced but also participated in the crossing of a Lakshman rekha in a manner which, either willingly or unwillingly, benefits the interests of a single political party, all the while flagrantly flouting long-standing legal precedents.
The very fact that foundational constitutional principles are being casually re-visited is a cause for concern. Democracy will cease to have any meaning if all constitutional institutions fall to the wayside and capitulate in this manner. By betraying the offices created and upheld by great men and women and by committing acts that border on rewriting the law based on convenient opinions instead of precedent, we are set on a dark path. But the Constitution of India can survive this assault. Indeed, it was designed to do so. We will maintain our vigil as a parliamentary opposition should. And in doing so, we will hope that other institutions, which are sought to be bullied and undermined, stand together and uphold the rule of law.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is meeting his cabinet a day after the Governor sent back his request for an assembly session.
Saying that “Raj Bhavan has no intention of not calling an Assembly session”, Mishra, according to a statement released by his office, asked the government to act on three points and send a fresh proposal addressing these: Reiterating his earlier statement, he said, “a clear 21-day notice” should be given for calling an Assembly session. He also pointed out that a healthy debate on important social and political issues can be held online. Mishra also issued directions in case of a trust vote: it should be conducted in the presence of the principal secretary of the parliamentary affairs department, be decided only through ‘yes’ and ‘no’ buttons, telecast live, and recorded on video.
A day after Rajasthan High Court dismissed a petition by seeking disqualification of the six BSP legislators who had merged with the Congress in September last year, party chief Mayawati said they will go the Supreme Court if needed. "BSP could have gone to the court earlier too but we were looking for a time to teach Congress party and CM Ashok Gehlot a lesson. Now we have decided to go to the Court. We will not let this matter alone. We will go even to the Supreme Court. We have asked the 6 MLAs, who are elected to the Rajasthan Assembly on the symbol of BSP, to vote against Congress in any proceedings to be held during the Rajasthan Assembly Session. If they don't do so, their party membership will be cancelled," she said, news agency ANI reported
While he returned the Ashok Gehlot government’s recommendation for an Assembly session from July 31 — the second time in five days — Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra said on Monday that “if the government wants to seek a trust vote, then this can be a reasonable basis for calling a session on short notice”. But, he said, while the Gehlot government’s comments, as reported in print and electronic media, make it clear that it wants a trust vote, it hasn’t mentioned this in its recommendation for an Assembly session. Citing the Covid pandemic, Mishra also said that a session cannot be called “without any special urgency”.
The Supreme Court Monday allowed Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi to withdraw his petition challenging the Rajasthan High Court order of July 21. The High Court had extended until July 24 the time given by the Speaker to 19 Congress rebel MLAs, seeking their response to the disqualification notices he had served.
The bench of Justices Arun Mishra, B R Gavai and Krishna Murari allowed the Speaker to withdraw his petition after senior advocate Kapil Sibal said the HC had subsequently passed a detailed order on July 24 in view of which the petitioner wanted to withdraw the challenge to the earlier order and take appropriate legal recourse against the later order.
Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra’s refusal to accept the Ashok Gehlot government’s recommendation for convening a session of the Assembly, ostensibly to go for a trial of strength to checkmate the rebels led by Sachin Pilot, has once again brought into focus controversial decisions by Governors in formation and dismissal of state governments over the years.
Both the Congress and the BJP, when in power at the Centre, have been accused of misusing the office of the Governor for political purposes. And when in Opposition, both have alleged murder of democracy and the Constitution. The role of Governors in imposing President’s Rule in states dates as far back as 1959, when the E M S Namboodiripad government in Kerala was dismissed. The role of Governors in toppling one government and installing another is not new either: in 1967, West Bengal Governor Dharma Vira dismissed the Ajoy Mukherjee government and installed a Congress-supported government with P C Ghosh as Chief Minister.
Upping the ante against BJP over the ongoing political tussle in Rajasthan, Congress workers across eight states protested in front of Raj Bhavans, claiming that the saffron party was trying to topple non-BJP governments. Protests were held by Congress state unites in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Delhi. Read full story here
Maharashtra Congress said: "In violation of the Constitution and democratic traditions, the Governor of Rajasthan is acting in a way that will help the BJP to overthrow the elected government. Today, under the leadership of state president Balasaheb Thorat, they staged an agitation against him at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai and protested against the BJP government and the governor."
Amid the crisis in the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan, senior Maharashtra Congress leaders on Monday protested in front of Raj Bhavan in Mumbai claiming the Centre was trying to topple non-BJP governments. State ministers Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavan and Varsha Gaikwad along with party workers shouted slogans against Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra who they said had created an impasse by not convening the Assembly session to allow the Gehlot government to prove its majority. (PTI)
Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Manish Khanduri and other Congress leaders march towards Dehradun Raj Bhavan under the leadership of PCC President Pritam Singh, against the BJP's alleged attempt to kill democracy in Rajasthan.
Congress workers on Monday marched to the Raj Bhawan here in protest against what the party termed as the Centre's conspiracy to dislodge non-BJP governments in the states. Led by PCC president Pritam Singh, Congress workers holding black umbrellas and stickers reading 'Save Democracy - Save the Constitution' marched to the Raj Bhawan but were not allowed to go beyond the police barricade at Hathi Barkala where they sat on a dharna. (PTI)
Bihar Congress leaders Monday staged a demonstration outside the Raj Bhavan in Patna against the Centre's "undemocratic and anti-constitutional" action of not allowing the Rajasthan government to convene a special session of the assembly. Led by Bihar Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha, party workers held a dharna. "The BJP is trying to disturb the Rajasthan government like it did in Madhya Pradesh. They are using money power and agencies like IT, CBI and ED to dislodge the elected government once again," PTI quoted Jha as saying.