Rajasthan governor spurns CM Gehlot for 3rd time over House session request
In his last message on Monday, the governor said only a written request on the trust vote as an agenda of the session could form the basis for calling the House on a short notice.
Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra on Wednesday for the third time returned the state government’s proposal to convene an assembly session and asked for concrete reasons to call a session on short notice in this odd and difficult situation, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. He suggested calling a regular monsoon session on a 21-day notice.
Soon after, CM Gehlot called for a cabinet meeting.
The Rajasthan government wants to have an assembly session from July 31. The cabinet note sent earlier to the governor did not specify if the chief minister will seek a trust vote during the session. The opposition BJP has not called for a trust vote, neither have rebel leader Sachin Pilot and the MLAs supporting him. Earlier, Gehlot had said he wanted to seek a trust vote to end the political uncertainty in the state.
In his last message on Monday, the governor said only a written request on the trust vote as an agenda of the session could form the basis for calling the House on a short notice.
Before that, the governor had suggested a 21-day notice period to convene the House, sought clarity on the session’s agenda and advised live-streaming of the floor test, in case it was held and also asked about Covid-19 related precautions in the assembly.
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.
