Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Governor Kalraj Mishra on Thursday. (File)
Jaipur:
Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told the state governor he has a majority and wants to call an assembly session, sources said at their meeting on Thursday evening. The Chief Minister met with Governor Kalraj Mishra shortly after telling reporters that an assembly would be called “very soon”.
“I have the numbers,” Ashok Gehlot reportedly told the governor at their third meeting since the rebel crisis erupted nearly two weeks ago. An assembly session was discussed but Mr. Gehlot did not mention a date, Raj Bhawan sources told GalacticGaming.
The indication that Congress is preparing for a floor test in the assembly came a day before a grand verdict in court for Sachin Pilot and other rebels threatening the survival of Ashok Gehlot’s government.
“We will convene the session of the assembly soon. We have a majority. All members of Congress are united,” the chief minister told reporters on Thursday. He added that he hoped some dissenting MPs would attend the session. “Without them too, we have a full majority and we will go to the House on the basis of that majority, and we will prove it,” he said.
The Rajasthan High Court will deliver its verdict on the Pilot team’s petition challenging the disqualification notices served on them by the President after skipping two meetings called by Mr. Gehlot last week. The rebels challenged a rule that allows the President to disqualify MPs if they “voluntarily renounce party membership.” Team Pilot says the opinions don’t hold because they don’t intend to leave Congress; they just want a change of direction.
Team Pilot’s plea to add the center as a party to the petition may delay the verdict. The court may seek the opinion of the center on the application of the anti-defection law in this case.
The President’s attempt to block the High Court’s verdict on the rebels’ petition failed because the Supreme Court refused to intervene yesterday. But the decision of the High Court will be subject to the final order of the Supreme Court.
If the rebels win their case today, they can vote in the assembly and endanger Mr. Gehlot’s government. If the court does not rule in their favor, their disqualification will help the chief minister by lowering the majority score.
Congress has a small lead over the opposition and only has two more than the 101 majority in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly. Team Pilot has 19 MPs and the BJP has 72. Including small parties and independent MPs, the opposition currently has 97.
Mr Gehlot said he expected some rebels to return. “They call us and tell us that they are unable to come out. Bouncers have been hired. I hope that some of them, when they come out, will vote with us,” the chief minister said.
