Rajasthani government safe, congressional leaders say today
Jaipur:
Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot government has the numbers to stay in power and MPs who joined Sachin Pilot in open revolt will return if allowed, Congress said on Saturday amid political struggle between Team Gehlot and Team Pilot.
“We have the figures. If we had not been alerted during the Rajya Sabha elections (last month), we would not have recorded our figures,” said Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyavas, referring to allegations that the BJP allegedly plotted with rebels in Congress to destabilize the government. He also said that rebel MPs who returned would be decorated with garlands, but those who joined the BJP would not be forgiven by the people.
Speaking to the media, Govind Singh Dotasra, who replaced Pilot after his dismissal as head of Congress in Rajasthan, also said that Haryana police, led by the BJP, had helped rebel lawmakers to escape when Rajasthani police came to pick them up on Friday.
“Rajasthan SOG was forced to wait by Haryana police from the BJP government until the deputies inside the Manesar complex were released through a secret door,” he said. Dotasra also questioned the need for Haryana police to intervene if the BJP really had nothing to hide.
Former chief deputy minister Sachin Pilot and at least 18 loyal MPs camped in Manesar for almost a week. One of the rebel deputies is Bhanwar Lal Sharma, whose voice is on audio tapes which, according to Congress, is evidence of the conspiracy to overthrow Ashok Gehlot.
Sharma and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, whom Congress also accused, denied all of the charges. GalacticGaming cannot independently verify the authenticity of these tapes.
The Rajasthani police team was seeking to collect a sample of Mr. Sharma’s voices. The team was briefly prevented from entering and, when cleared, said the MPs could not be found.
The Gehlot-Pilot feud intensified after the BJP was accused of poaching MPs to overthrow the government and Mr. Pilot was asked to answer questions about the alleged plot; Mr. Gehlot said he had evidence that Mr. Pilot was involved.
Furious, Mr. Pilot refused to attend the team meetings and told Congress leadership that he would accept nothing less than the post of chief minister to end his revolt.
The acrimonious dispute became legal after Congress served notices of disqualification on Mr. Pilot and 18 MPs. They had time until Tuesday to respond. Pilot responded by dragging Congress to the Rajasthan High Court.
The outcome of the court ruling will likely be decisive for the Gehlot government, which needs the rebels to be disqualified and the mark of the majority in the Assembly to decline if it is to survive a vote of confidence which will almost certainly be demanded by the BJP. .
For Sachin Pilot, staying as a member of parliament, along with his loyalists, is essential because his threat to overthrow the government disappears if their votes are invalidated. Mr. Pilot also downplayed the rumors linking him to a visit to the BJP. He told GalacticGaming twice that he “would not join the BJP”.
Ashok Gehlot needs 101 deputies in the 200 strong assembly to vote for him in order to retain power. He claims to have the support of 106. The BJP, which has 73, needs 30 to 35 deputies to be sure of crossing the majority bar.
Including Mr. Pilot, there would be 18 MPs who would camp in Haryana.
With the contribution of ANI
