Rajasthan cabinet in fresh proposal says assembly session could begin from 14 Aug
'We have the numbers but if we have to wait for the session then so be it. Calling it from 14 August takes care of the three-week notice,' says a senior minister from Gehlot’s cabinet
New Delhi: In what is likely to be a peace deal offering, chief minister Ashok Gehlot led state cabinet on late Wednesday evening budged from its earlier demand and put forth a fresh proposal of calling the assembly session from 14 August. According to a news report by Press Trust of India, Governor has agreed to cabinet's proposal and has summoned the session from 14 August with due social distancing precautions in place.
Congress party feels the new proposal takes care of two things – abiding by the three-week notice while counting from 23 July when the first proposal was moved and sidestepping Governor Kalraj Mishra’s recommendation of putting trust vote as a reason to expedite the process.
“We have the numbers but if we have to wait for the session then so be it. Calling it from 14 August takes care of the three-week notice. We do not have an option and have to wait till the session is called," a senior minister from Gehlot’s cabinet said requesting anonymity.
The stalemate over calling an assembly session in Rajasthan continued on Wednesday with governor Kalraj Mishra returning Gehlot-led cabinet’s proposal for a third time on Wednesday morning. The two also met later in the day.
Much of political drama in Rajasthan has moved to the courts. A day after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said she would challenge six of its legislators joining the Congress last year, her party filed a writ petition on the issue in the high court on Wednesday. BSP will also file a petition with the office of the Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi challenging the move.
Additionally, Joshi on Wednesday also moved Supreme Court on Wednesday evening, challenging the 24 July order of Rajasthan High court, which stayed proceedings on disqualification petitions against 19 rebel MLA.
The decision about the agenda is entirely that of the business advisory committee and mentioning a ‘trust vote’ in its proposal could create more complications, which the party wants to avoid, said a senior leader of the party from Jaipur, requesting anonymity.
“The letter has been sent back to us for the third time. We don’t know what they want. You (party leaders) have nothing to worry. The high command is entirely with us," Gehlot said at a function at the party’s Jaipur office held to mark senior leader Govind Singh Dotasara formally taking charge as president of the state unit of the Congress.
Dotasara replaces Sachin Pilot who was removed from the post of state party chief and deputy chief minister after he and 18 MLAs rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership. The Gehlot-led Congress has reiterated that it has the numbers required to win the trust vote, but the Pilot faction has contested the claim.
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