The Ashok Gehlot cabinet discussed the points raised by the Governor on calling an assembly session.

Jaipur:

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot chaired a cabinet meeting at his residence on Friday night, ending a long day of high drama which saw Mr Gehlot and the MLAs supporting him protesting for more than four hours at Governor Kalraj Mishra’s house, accusing him of sitting on the request of calling an assembly session because he was “under pressure” to stall a test of strength. During the meeting that went on well past midnight, lasting for nearly two and half hours, the cabinet discussed the six points raised by the state Governor regarding calling as assembly session.

The cabinet passed a proposal to call the assembly session, which will be sent to the Governor this morning. It was decided in the cabinet meeting that the agenda of the assembly session will be coronavirus and the economic crisis, sources said.

Mr Gehot and Congress MLAs loyal to him held a five-hour sit-in at the Governor’s House, Raj Bhawan, to press for an assembly session, in a dramatic show of strength hours after the Sachin Pilot Camp secured protection for now from disqualification from the house.

Mr Gehlot submitted a list of 102 MLAs to the Governor, who asked him to send a fresh request for a session. The Congress said it ended the protest following an assurance from the Governor that he will abide by Article 174 of the constitution, after getting the clarifications from the Chief Minister.

Bombarded by the Congress for seemingly helping former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot’s revolt against the Ashok Gehlot government by stalling an assembly session, Governor Kalraj Mishra on Friday said that he will go by the constitution only.

The governor said he needed the state government’s response on few points before making any announcement, claiming that Mr Gehlot had not given any “justification” or “agenda” for calling the session on such a short notice.

Under the normal process, a 21-day notice is required for the session to be called, Mr Mishra said in a statement.

“The date on which the assembly session is to be convened is not mentioned in the cabinet note and no approval has been given by the cabinet for the same,” he said.

The statement also said the state government should ensure freedom and free movement of all the MLAs.

It asked the government to take note of the COVID-19 crisis and suggest how the session should be held given the current situation.

The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, which is facing a political crisis after rebellion by 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including rebel party leader Sachin Pilot, wants to hold the assembly session to prove the majority.

Mr Gehlot, 69, is going all out for a test of strength after Team Pilot that is threatening his government scored a reprieve from the Rajasthan High Court on Friday. There can be no action for now on disqualification notices sent to the rebels last week, the court said. This means the Speaker cannot take any action against the rebels until the larger constitutional question of his powers is decided. That question will be taken up by the Supreme Court on Monday.

Mr Gehlot believes he has the numbers to retain power if he faces a trust vote now. If he does win, there cannot be any vote for the next six months.

The rules say the rebels must follow the party whip in the assembly or risk being disqualified. Despite the court-ordered status quo, the rebels can be disqualified if they vote against their own party. But their vote will still count.

The Congress has a narrow lead over the opposition and is only one past the majority mark of 101 in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly. Team Pilot claims the support of 30 MLAs, but so far, the evidence points to only 19. The BJP has 72. Including smaller parties and independent members, the opposition has 97 at the moment.