CM Gehlot proposes House session from Aug 14, meets Guv’s 21-day condition
Earlier today, governor Kalraj Mishra returned for the third time a proposal from the state government to convene the assembly, saying the Cabinet had refused to state the reason why it wanted a session at short notice.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, after yet another cabinet meeting, proposed convening an assembly session from July 14, from the earlier demand of July 31, in deference to the governor’s 21-day notice period condition for calling such a session.
The first proposal for an assembly session was sent on July 23 but it did not have the cabinet’s approval and no date was mentioned. Counting from that date onwards, the new date proposed meets the 21-day criterion.
Earlier today, governor Kalraj Mishra returned for the third time a proposal from the state government to convene the assembly, saying the cabinet had refused to state the reason why it wanted a session at short notice.
As the deadlock over calling a session deepened, CM Gehlot went up to meet the governor at the Raj Bhawan. The state cabinet met later.
The governor said if the government was not stating the reason for holding a short-notice session, it could call a regular session after giving a 21-day notice.
He asked the Gehlot cabinet to resubmit its proposal, giving a “solid reason” for calling a session at short notice.
“The love letter has already come. Now, I am only going to have tea with him,” Gehlot told party workers at the state Congress office before heading for the Raj Bhawan.
The Gehlot-led cabinet, which met on Tuesday, had claimed governor Mishra did not have any locus standi in stipulating conditions to hold the session. The cabinet asked Mishra to abide by its proposal and claimed the failure to do so would be unconstitutional.
It also asserted that the agenda of the session will be determined by the business advisory committee of the house. It was the speaker’s domain to decide on social distancing norms in the assembly.
Ashok Gehlot, who is battling a rebellion from his former Number 2 in the government - Sachin Pilot, claims the support of over 100 MLAs. Sachin Pilot, along with 18 MLAs, says he is only protesting the CM’s way of functioning. He has maintained that he is not joining the opposition BJP.
The BJP with 72 MLAs has been watching the drama from the sidelines.
