The open revolt of Sachin Pilot has pushed the Ashok Gehlot government to the brink.
Jaipur / New Delhi:
Sachin Pilot, whose rebellion shattered the congressional government of Rajasthan, today issued birthday greetings for the man he is fighting in court – President CP Joshi.
“Best wishes to the President of Rajasthan, CP Joshi, on his birthday. I pray for his health and long life,” the congressional rebel tweeted in Hindi.
Mr Pilot and 18 rebel MPs are awaiting the High Court ruling on their challenge to the President’s disqualification notices two weeks ago. Until a decision was announced, they were protected from any action by the President.
The President served the notifications on July 15, asking the rebels why they should not be disqualified after skipping two meetings of congressional lawmakers, which he said amounted to “voluntarily relinquishing their membership in a left”.
Mr Joshi has asked the Supreme Court to prevent the High Court from ruling on the rebels’ petition, arguing that as President he is constitutionally empowered to act. The Supreme Court last week refused to stop the case, saying “the voice of dissent cannot be suppressed” in a democracy.
On Monday, the President submitted his case to the Supreme Court.
Whether the President can disqualify the rebels will decide their strategy against Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who sacked Mr. Pilot as his deputy days after 42-year-old Jaipur left. for Delhi, the rebel base camp.
The senior minister is currently fighting for an assembly session from Friday and yesterday sent his third proposal to Governor Kalraj Mishra, who raised doubts over two previous requests.
Mr Gehlot claims he has the numbers to take on Team Pilot’s challenge, but the rebels dispute him.
