Congress on Sunday asserted that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had the numbers to prove his government's majority in the State Assembly and was ready to face a floor test if required.
Battling a rebellion from former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, Gehlot was also shoring up support to ensure the stability of his government by reaching out to two MLAs of a regional outfit and keeping close tab on the dissidents.
Reports from Jaipur said at least two MLAs from the Pilot camp – Gajendra Singh Shaktawat and Bijendra Ola – were keen to return to the Congress, which could further bolster the Gehlot government.
“We have support of 109 MLAs,” Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress chief spokesman and AICC emissary to deal with the political crisis in Rajasthan, told reporters.
On Saturday, Gehlot had enlisted the backing of two Bhartiya Tribal Party MLAs and submitted letters of support to Governor Kalraj Mishra.
Plans were afoot in Jaipur to convene a special session of the Rajasthan Assembly as early as Wednesday for Gehlot to prove his majority.
“To seek a floor test is a decision of the chief minister. The chief minister will take a decision if required,” Ajay Maken, who along with Surjewala, is assisting Gehlot to resolve the crisis situation triggered due to Pilot’s rebellion last week.
At the same time, Maken pointed out that even the BJP has not demanded that Gehlot face a floor test in the Assembly.
Confident of the numbers, Congress launched an all out attack on the BJP, demanding the resignation of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, accusing him of conspiring to topple the Gehlot government by engineering defections.
“Isn’t it the moral duty of the Prime Minister to divest Shekhawat of his portfolio so that he doesn’t interfere in the fair investigation in this case? Also, why is he shying from giving a voice sample despite registration of a case against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Maken asked.
The Rajasthan High Court is set to resume the hearing on Monday on a plea filed by Pilot and 18 MLAs supporting him challenging the disqualification proceedings launched against them by Assembly Speaker C P Joshi under the anti-defection law. The Congress had complained to the Speaker after Pilot and his supporters refused to attend the Legislature Party meeting convened by Gehlot last week.
Pilot and the 18 MLAs supporting him were sequestered in two resorts in Haryana, but were shifted from there to luxury hotels in Delhi after the Rajasthan Police team came searching for them in connection with audio clips of purported conversations on toppling the Gehlot government.