Sachin Pilot has been sacked as Rajasthan deputy chief minister and state Congress chief

New Delhi:

The Congress is divided over pursuing the Rajasthan case legally in the Supreme Court, sources told NDTV a day before the court is expected to hear the matter. A section wants the Congress to pull its petition out of court and handle the matter politically. These leaders, sources said, feel the crisis should be dealt with politically. Others are keen to keep up the engagement in court.

Last week, after the rebel camp led by Sachin Pilot went to the Rajasthan High Court and it gave temporary relief to him, the Congress had filed a petition in Supreme Court challenging the order. On Friday, the High court extended protection to the Sachin Pilot camp, saying the Speaker cannot take any action against them till the larger constitutional question regarding the Speaker’s powers is decided.

The top court will hear the issue tomorrow.

The matter, however, is likely to interfere with the Congress strategy to convene assembly as soon as possible.

Governor Kalraj Mishra, who has turned down the Ashok Gehlot government’s first proposal to convene assembly, had listed it as one of the six reasons for refusal.

“The issue of disqualification of some MLAs is pending with the High Court and the Supreme Court. The government has been asked to take cognizance of the matter,” read a communique from the Governor’s office on Friday.

Several key Congress leaders are now of the opinion that the petition in the Supreme Court should now be withdrawn and the issue be pursued politically.

Mr Gehlot sent a second proposal to the Governor today, citing coronavirus as the agenda and citing July 31 as the date. There is no word in it on floor test.

Mr Gehlot maintains that some MLAs supporting him are being held hostage at the rebel camp in Haryana’s Gurugram and once the rebels are forced to come to Jaipur for the assembly session, his numbers will rise further.