In New Delhi, Congress accused the Governor of acting in a partisan and “motivated” manner. The consultations that Mishra had raised “reflected an unfortunate state of affairs of obfuscation, obstruction and delaying tactics for weak, frivolous and non-jurisdictional reasons,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said at a press conference.
Facing a challenge from former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 loyal MLAs to him, the Gehlot government wants a floor test so he can test his majority, and save himself another position in the Assembly over the next six months.
A successful floor test will also allow Congress to release its ministers and MLA from the Fairmont Jaipur hotel and resort, where they have been held for two weeks. While looking for an Assembly session, the second cabinet recommendation did not, however, make a specific mention of a floor test.
After the governor failed to act on the original cabinet recommendation on Thursday, Gehlot accused him of acting under “pressure from above” and led a protest by his MLAs in Raj Bhavan. The protest was canceled after a “guarantee” by the governor, who, however, requested the government’s response on six points.
Mishra said the cabinet note had not mentioned the date from which the session would be called. No reason has been given to convene the session on short notice and an agenda has not been proposed. A 21-day notice is normally required to convene a session, Mishra said, and he also sought details on the logistics of holding the session amid the pandemic. The Governor also requested clarification on the reason for convening the session if the government has a majority.
Singhvi answered each of these queries.
He rejected as absurd the governor’s reference to the fact that cases related to the disqualification of some MLAs were pending in the Supreme Court and High Court of Rajasthan. “If the President of the Assembly disqualifies or does not, it cannot, per se, affect the holding of a session or a test of numbers on the floor of the Chamber. Whether the High Court or the High Court decides in one way or another, it cannot affect the convening of a session or the exercise of power by the Governor under Article 174, which obviously does not appear before the President or the two courts, “he said.
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