We’ll protest at PM’S house, warns Gehlot
TENSIONS RISE BJP slams CM’S language; Cong says governor’s queries addressed
JAIPUR/NEW DELHI: The Rajasthan government has addressed governor Kalraj Mishra’s queries on the urgent need for holding a special session of the assembly and requested him to convene the House on July 31, Congress functionaries aware of the developments said on Saturday, a day after legislators supporting chief minister Ashok Gehlot staged a five-hour demonstration at Raj Bhavan to push for their demand for a special sitting.
Raising the pitch in the midst of a political crisis, Gehlot told MLAS at a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting that he was ready to knock at the doors of the President’s House and protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence in the national capital to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’S “conspiracy” to topple his government, according to the Congress functionaries who did not want to named.
A letter by the Congress sent to Mishra stressed that the governor had to go by the aid and advice of the council of ministers on convening, proroguing or dissolving the House and that he cannot dictate procedures of the House, which was in the domain of the speaker, said the people aware of the developments.
Mishra was yet to take a final call on convening the session till late Saturday night. Officials in his office, who did not want to be named, said a “considered” view was being taken on the fresh proposal and a decision will be announced at an “appropriate” time. “The fresh proposal has been prepared with keeping legalities and provisions in mind, and approved by the cabinet before it was sent to Raj Bhavan,” a minister in the Gehlot government said, a day after Mishra sought to know the emergency for summoning the session and its agenda.
Facing protests by legislators backing Gehlot, Mishra, who was in the BJP before becoming the governor, also asked why the chief minister was pushing for a floor test even though no one had put forth such a demand and how the government was planning to protect the MLAS in the backdrop of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“We have proposed calling the session from July 31, giving sufficient time for MLAS to reach and attend the assembly. The governor is also informed of the important bills and business to be tabled in house,” the minister quoted above said. He added that the Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020, notified in May for strict enforcement of Covid-19 restrictions, also needed to be tabled in the House.
Rajasthan is facing a political crisis due to a rebellion by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and a section of legislators backing him. The Gehlot camp and feels a floor test may be its best bet to end the political crisis, says the governor is delaying convening a session due to pressure from the Bjp-led central government. Mishra denies the charge and says he will follow constitutional norms to convene the House. “He had queries. We have replied to them,” a second minister. The proposal has been submitted after consultation with the speaker, he said.