‘CM Gehlot talked of trust vote in public, but not in his cabinet note’

Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra spoke to Akhilesh Kumar Singh about the political crisis in the state and his delayed consent to convening the state assembly.
It seems CM Gehlot has agreed to the 21-day notice provision for convening the assembly. Will there be an assembly session now?
Yes. I have already accepted the state government’s revised proposal and allowed it to convene the assembly session from August 14 after completing the 21-day notice since the request. The session will be conducted as per Rule 3 of the state assembly. I have maintained that I never had a problem with the session but there has to be compliance with the set norms. Once the revised request came from the state government, I agreed to it immediately.
There is a constitutional provision that the governor is bound by the cabinet’s request to convene the session. Why was the request not accepted by you for so long?
As per Article 174 of the Constitution, the governor is bound by the recommendations of the state cabinet to hold the session. I never denied that. However, I had some valid questions, which were not being answered by the state government. These are not normal circumstances in view of the Covid-19 crisis… there will be more than 1,000 people in the assembly premises in case of the session. So, I had asked a few questions like what measures are being taken for the safety of people, including members. The government has not answered till now what was the urgency.
As per norms, the House should sit at an interval of six months and there is time till September 12. However, the state government has not been answering these questions and the urgency to hold the session on such a short notice should have come in writing. But it has not happened even after I asked them to explain.
The crisis is seen as an intra-Cong fight. Should not the matter be settled on the floor of the House? Will not prolonging the crisis lead to political machinations?
It’s a valid question and let me tell you, Raj Bhavan has nothing to do with internal matters of any political party. However, it was strange that the CM on several occasions talked about the trust vote in public but the same was not being mentioned in the cabinet note. They should have mentioned in the note that assembly is being convened for a trust vote.
You reacted strongly to the CM’s statement that he will not be responsible if people gherao Raj Bhavan.
I was pained at the CM’s statement and I had a valid reason to be concerned about my own and Raj Bhavan staff’s safety. That is why I wrote a letter asking the CM to explain which agency I should rely on and rope in if the state chief minister will not be responsible for my safety. However, the CM came to Raj Bhavan and apologised for his remarks.
Gehlot said the governor was under pressure and was not taking a decision.
There is no pressure on Raj Bhavan, which is functioning as per Articles 174 and 161 of the Constitution and also adhering to the assembly’s rules and regulations. As the House is set to function from August 14, there can be a ‘no trust vote’ or a ‘no confidence motion’ as per rules of the state assembly.
It has been quite some time since ministers, MLAs have been staying in a hotel. How do you see this stalemate?
It doesn’t speak good about the state government… it’s not good for the government. I raised the issue here after which ministers are now working from their offices.
As per norms, the House should sit at an interval of six months and there is time till September 12. The state govt has not explained the urgency to hold the session at such short notice. It should have come in writing