Rajasthan Crisis: Sachin Pilot's open revolt has pushed the state government to brink. (File)
Here are 10 developments on Rajasthan political crisis:
The Governor has this time raised two questions on Ashok Gehlot's proposal for an assembly session. He has asked whether the Chief Minister wants to bring a trust vote. "Do you want to bring a confidence motion? As it is not mentioned in the proposal but in public you (Mr Gehlot) are making statements that you want to bring a Confidence Motion," Mr Mishra reportedly asked.
The Governor also said it would be difficult to call all MLAs at a short notice during the pandemic. "Can you consider giving 21 days' notice to the MLAs?" - his note asks. When he rejected Mr Gehlot's first proposal on Friday, the Governor had given six reasons. He had pointed out that the proposal did not mention any agenda and also asked for a date.
The Chief Minister, who has been pressing for an assembly session since last week and protested for five hours at his residence Raj Bhavan to push for it, submitted a fresh proposal on Saturday and listed coronavirus and economy as the agenda for the special session.
The Governor had rejected the earlier proposal citing the Supreme Court case among the reasons, which led to the Congress deciding that the petition in the top court must be withdrawn. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court refused to stop the High Court from ruling on the rebels' petition - as requested by the Speaker -- saying the "voice of dissent cannot be suppressed in a democracy". The Speaker had also challenged being told by the High Court to hold off on any action against the rebels until its verdict.
A day later, the High Court extended that protection to the rebels and deferred its verdict after accepting team Pilot's eleventh-hour request to add the centre to the case so it can weigh in on whether the anti-defection law applies to them.
Chief Minister Gehlot believes the numbers are on his side and is keen on taking a floor test in the assembly. He also insists that some Congress MLAs supporting him are being held hostage at the two resorts in Haryana's Gurugram where team Pilot is parked since they launched a revolt two weeks ago.
The Chief Minister claims the support of 102 MLAs, just one past the majority mark of 101 in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly. His numbers may dip because of a move by Uttar Pradesh politician Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The BSP has issued a whip to its six MLAs to vote against the Congress in a floor test.
The six BSP MLAs had joined the Congress last year. But the BSP yesterday said they had been issued notices that they cannot merge their party with the Congress only in one state, since it has a national presence.
Sachin Pilot broke ranks with the Congress after months of insurmountable differences with his former boss Ashok Gehlot. The last straw for Mr Pilot came in the form of summons to answer questions in an investigation into alleged attempts to bribe Congress MLAs into turning against the government in which he was Deputy Chief Minister.
If Team Pilot wins its case, the rebels can vote in the assembly and endanger the Congress government. If they vote against their party, Congress, they can be disqualified but their votes will count.
