Rajasthan

gation and claimed that the entire crisis was purely a result of an internal clash within the Congress. The Rajasthan crisis has seen an open tussle between Gehlot and his now-dismissed deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and a set of rebel Congress legislators, who allege that Gehlot’s government is in a minority. Gehlot, in recent days, has sought a quick assembly session based on the assessment that he has the numbers in the house, according to Congress strategists.

In response to the governor’s queries, laying out the government’s position, state transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said, “He has no right to be raising queries. Yet we are giving a reply.” On the 21-day requirement — the first point mentioned by the governor — Khachariyawas said that 10 days had already passed since the government had asked for a session, and asked why the governor had not given a date himself. The minister also asked what would happen if the central government sought to hold a session of Parliament and wrote to the President, who the proposal. “The BJP is doing politics to weaken the Lok Sabha and state assembly.”

A Congress functionary involved in political management in the state said that the Rajasthan government, in its reply, has also conveyed to the governor that the Supreme Court judgements Mishra had quoted in his letters restrict his role in convening the assembly sessions. “These judgements clearly state that he has to go by the aid and advice of the council of ministers and that he has no authority to set the agenda or decide the timing and the venue of the assembly sessions,” the functionary added.

When asked about the agenda of the session, Khachariyawas said that it was for the Business Advisory Committee of the assembly to decide the agenda. Regarding the social distancing norms in the assembly, the minister said that the speaker would decidetheseatingarrangements.

Mahesh Menon who teaches law at Daksha Fellowship Programme said, “I do not subscribe to the view that the Governor can exercise his discretion when it comes to calling an assembly session. Even if the Governor can use his discretion, it should not be exercised whimsically.”

The Congress, separately, also alleged that Mishra was acting “under pressure” from the BJP government at the Centre. Party general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, Avinash Pande, in a series of tweets, said, “..In the context of the crisis in Rajasthan, the Governor of Rajasthan is adopting a biased approach to fulfil the interests of a particular party...”

BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said the post of governor is constitutional, and BJP does not interfere in the work of the constitutional bodies.

The Congress functionary quoted above said the party will decide on its next course of action only after receiving the governor’s response. A second Congress leader said there were two opinions in the party on accepting the governor’s conditions.

One section was of the view that the state government should insist on a short session and stick to the July 31 date, he said. He said the second view was that the Congress should accept all the governor’s conditions, including giving the 21-day notice for calling the session. The leader further said the Congress will fight the Rajasthan battle politically by taking to streets and keeping its flock (legislators) together.

He’s shining bright.

Pappu is wearing trousers whose bright shade is difficult to determine—is it some sort of brown or mustard colour, or brownishmustard, or something else entirely. Doesn’t matter. The pants are very attractive but they are outshone by his fluorescent orange shirt printed with the title of a Hindi film rap song—apna time aayega (My time will come). The sleeves have “Tiktok Tiktok” running along their length.

“These are new clothes, I bought them just yesterday,” he says, blushing. The only old thing he’s wearing is his checked gamchha, that he has stylishly knotted about his pants like a loose belt.

Pappu is a daily-wage labourer and this morning he is walking through a central Delhi market, on his way to a building contractor who owes him ₹4,000.

“And there’s another person in Gurgaon who has to pay me ₹5,000 for the work I did some months ago. I’ll have to go there later this week.”

In the pre-corona days too, builders and contractors would occasionally delay paying their workforce, Pappu informs. “But this tendency has recently started to become more common.” He blames it on the extraordinary situation triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. “There is less money in the market, haalaat (conditions) are not good, and contractors don’t have much cash at hand.” Whatever, he is refusing to be patient any longer—“i’ll soon be leaving for home.” Pappu reveals his plan with a big smile, referring to his native place in Madhya Pradesh. In his late 20s, he has been in Delhi for about a decade “but it’s tough to find work these days... so

I’m going back to my village.”

Pappu’s family includes his father, and his brother and sister-in-law. “I got the new clothes because I want to look nice when I meet my people.”

He shopped for them the day before in Sadar Bazaar. “The pants came for ₹200 and the the city you never see shirt was more expensive, at ₹250.” The last time he had bought new pant-shirt was two months ago “but they are in tattered condition... I was using them as my work clothes.” Pappu doesn’t plan to spoil the new dress, and is putting it on just for today “for masti (fun)”. He will wear them next only for his journey home though he isn’t sure of the exact date of the return. “It will be as soon as I get all my dues.” He plans to stay in the village for the next few months, working in his family’s agricultural field. “We get enough produce from our land to feed ourselves well.” If so, why has he been living in smoggy Delhi, working as a labourer and sleeping on the pavement?

Pappu’s face becomes sombre, maybe he is gathering his thoughts. “A family can live for generations in the same village, following the same line of work… but if even just one family member goes to a city for work, then other younger people in the family get the opportunity to do something else.”

But now Pappu really has to hurry to meet the contractor. He excuses himself and merges into the street crowd ahead, his dress keeping him identifiable for a long time.