Rajasthan cabinet sticks to July 31 as assembly session date, reply sent to governor
The Congress government in Rajasthan has decided to not accede to governor’s suggestion for a 21-day notice for calling fresh session of the assembly.
The Rajasthan cabinet chaired by chief minister Ashok Gehlot has decided to stick to its demand to convene the assembly session from July 31, instead after 21-days as recommended by the governor. The queries raised by Kalraj Mishra as a precondition for convening the assembly session were also discussed.
A senior Rajasthan minister said that the party hopes that governor Kalraj Mishra “respects the constitution” and approved the cabinet’s proposal, failing which further course of action will be decided.
“If still, he does not approve then it is clear that there is no constitution. They are doing politics by keeping aside the constitution. The governor should understand that this fight is for the pride and honour of Rajasthan,” state transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said after the cabinet meeting.
Citing an example, he asked if the country would afford a similar hypothetical situation of the President turning down PM Narendra Modi’s cabinet proposal for convening a Lok Sabha session. “Then how will the country run,” he asked and added that “The BJP is doing politics to weaken Lok Sabha and state assembly”.
He reiterated his party’s stated position that the governor had no right to reject the cabinet’s proposal.
“We do not want any confrontation with the governor and neither have any resentment against him. The governor is the head of our family. Under article 163 of the India Constitution, it is clearly written that no governor of the country can deny the proposal by the cabinet,” he added.
Governor Kalraj Mishra had returned Gehlot government’s earlier proposal for convening the assembly session from July 31 and suggested that he give 21 days notice for the same and made arrangements for social distancing and ensured live streaming of the floor test.
Congress minister said the governor had no legal right to make the queries.
“The governor’s query is simple and the replies were discussed. However, he has no right to query under the law,” Khachariyawas said.
He said the business advisory committee of the assembly will decide the agenda of the session and the speaker will decide the seating arrangements as per social distancing norms in the assembly. On the issue of a 21-day notice for calling the session, the minister said it was just a delaying tactic.
“The entire BJP is working as slaves of the Congress dissidents. If today, the BJP people are told by Congress rebels that don’t let the session begin then it will not happen. How much time should be given so that they can horse trade the MLAs but not one will break as people are awake,” he alleged.
Also Read: Rajasthan cabinet meets to discuss points raised by governor for calling assembly session
The current threat to the state government has been precipitated by the rebellion of 19 Congress MLAs including former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. The Gehlot government has blamed the BJP of plotting his government’s downfall in connivance with Pilot. It has also alleged that the governor is also acting unconstitutionally at the behest of the BJP leadership.
Revenue minister Harish Choudhary said, “We don’t want the governor to follow us but the constitution, the law and the rules; this is what we are requesting. The Governor should leave the speaker’s issues to him, government’s issues with the cabinet, and he should also follow the Supreme Court judgments.”
The governor has returned cabinet recommendations for calling the assembly session twice while raising technical issues. His office has told the Rajasthan government that an assembly session can be called at a short notice provided it states that holding a floor test is its purpose. But the Congress government has cited “discussion on Covid situation in the state” as the main reason for calling the session.
BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek has rejected Congress allegations of putting pressure on the governor and claimed that the current turmoil in the state Congress was the result of an internal factional feud, existence of which was visible since the formation of the government.
