Wary of defections, Cong moves Raj MLAS to resort before RS elections
THE MOVE COMES AFTER THREE OF CONGRESS’S LEGISLATORS RESIGNED FROM THE PARTY AND THE GUJARAT STATE ASSEMBLY LAST WEEK
nJAIPUR/NEW DELHI: Wary of defections ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha elections, the ruling Congress in Rajasthan shifted all its legislators to a resort in Jaipur to prevent them from jumping ship or being poached.
The Congress lost power in Madhya Pradesh in March and is on the verge of losing a Rajya Sabha seat in Gujarat due to resignations by its legislators. A similar situation also resulted in the collapse of the Janata Dal (Secular)-congress coalition in Karnataka. The Congress has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for these desertions and the fall of its governments.
In the 200-member Rajasthan assembly, the Congress has 107 legislators and also claims to have the support of 13 independents, two legislators each from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) as also one member of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
The BJP has 72 legislators and is supported by the Rashtriya Loktantrk Party (RLP) that has three members in the assembly.
Three Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan are going to polls on June 19. The Congress has fielded party general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal and state office bearer Neeraj Dangi while the BJP has named Rajendra Gehlot and Omkar Singh Lakhawat as its candidates.
After three of its legislators resigned from the party and the Gujarat assembly last week, the Congress swung into action and shifted its 21 lawmakers to a resort in Abu Road, Jaipur.
Rajasthan Congress leaders alleged that attempts are being made by the BJP to lure legislators with huge financial inducements, a charge vehemently denied by the BJP.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot too claimed lots of money has changed hands in Jaipur and said there were reports that the BJP was planning a Madhya
Pradesh-like operation in his state.“our legislators are intelligent, alert and united. Rajasthan is the only state in the country where 13 independents supported our government neither for any exchange of money nor any post,” he told reporters in Jaipur.
In late March, five Congress legislators in Gujarat quit the party and the assembly ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections then scheduled for March 26. However, the polls were deferred due to the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown.
Three more Congress legislators resigned last week, bringing the party’s strength down to 65 in the 182-member Gujarat assembly. The ruling BJP has 103 legislators.
With 10 vacancies in all -- eight because of resignations by Congress legislators, and two due to court cases over poll-related disputes -- the effective strength of the Gujarat assembly now stands at 172. A candidate will have to get 35 votes to get elected to the Upper House of Parliament and polls will be held for four Rajya Sabha seats from the state.
The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramilaben Bara and Narhari Amin while Bharatsinh Solanki and Shaktisinh Gohil are the Congress candidates.
On Wednesday, Gehlot summoned his legislators for an emergency meeting at a Jaipur resort . They were asked to stay there but some left after attending the meeting; they returned on Thursday for another round of consultations.
The party has given time till Friday for all its legislators to move to the resort.
The Rajasthan government’s chief whip Mahesh Joshi, in a complaint to the director-general, anti-corruption bureau (ACB), alleged that there were attempts to poach Congress legislators as well as some supporting independent lawmakers.
But leader of the opposition Gulab Chand Kataria dismissed allegations that the BJP was making any attempt to overthrow the Congress government in Rajasthan.
He questioned why the Congress was lodging its legislators in a resort when it is running the government in the state and has support of independents.
“This shows that they have differences within the party and to stop that they have been camping in a resort and blaming the BJP. Who are they complaining to? It is their government in the state. ”