Ashok Gehlot demands assembly session, MLAs hold dharna at Raj Bhawan
Soon after the court’s stand was known, chief minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters that the Governor was ‘acting under duress from the top’ and therefore their request for holding a session of the assembly was not being agreed to
On a day when Rajasthan High Court (HC) gave a breather to former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs by ordering status quo on their disqualification notices, high drama played out at Raj Bhawan in Jaipur where Congress MLAs staged a dharna demanding an immediate session of legislative assembly.
After nearly five hours of dharna, Congress MLAs who support chief minister Ashok Gehlot ended it on late Friday evening after an assurance from Governor Kalraj Mishra that he will go by the constitutional provisions on summoning an assembly session. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters later that the Governor had raised certain queries which would be answered after a state cabinet meeting takes place.
Soon after the court’s stand was known, chief minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters that the Governor was ‘acting under duress from the top’ and therefore their request for holding a session of the assembly was not being agreed to. Gehlot then announced that along with party MLAs, who are staying at a resort, would be paying a visit to Governor Kalraj Mishra.
“This is a simple process where the Governor agrees to call us. It is beyond our understanding why he is not agreeing. We believe due to pressure from above and under duress, he is not agreeing to call an assembly session. We are really saddened by this,” Gehlot told reporters in Jaipur ahead of meeting the Governor.
Following this, the MLAs along with Gehlot left in buses to Raj Bhawan or Governor’s House. After a brief meeting, MLAs sat on the lawns in the Raj Bhawan holding a dharna and sloganeering that the assembly session be called immediately.
“We have taken the initiative of requesting that the assembly session should be called. The opposition too should support us in this but here the reverse is only happening. Ideally, the Governor should accept the recommendation of cabinet to hold the assembly or tell us what his queries or concerns are,” Gehlot told reporters later in the evening adding that the next course of action will be decided after hearing from the Governor about his views.
While Congress is hopeful that a session will be called on the grounds that the Governor has to accept advice of cabinet in calling the session, a section of the party is unsure given the matter is sub-judice and that could be a reason given for not calling an immediate session.
Congress has now decided to hold a series of protests in the state outside party offices of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across the state on Saturday accusing it of playing a role in attempt to topple the state government. Senior leaders of BJP have denied such charges and blamed internal troubles and infighting for the current power tussle in Rajasthan.
Earlier in the day, BJP MLA Madan Dilawar filed a petition in the High Court for quashing the merger of six Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs with the Congress earlier this year according to a news report by Press Trust of India. The petition challenges the “inaction” of the Speaker in not deciding on his plea seeking the disqualification and is likely to be heard on Monday.
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First Published:24 Jul 2020, 09:36 PM IST
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