Congress To Hold Protest Outside Raj Bhavans Across India On Monday; Gehlot To Meet Rajasthan Governor Today

The Rajasthan CM submitted the list of 102 MLAs on Friday which is one past the majority mark. CM Gehlot believes he has the numbers to retain power if he faces a trust vote now. If he does win, there cannot be any vote for the next six months.

Ashok Gehlot along with senior Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala, Avinash Pandey and Ajay Maken outside Fairmont hotel in Jaipur. (Image: PTI)

Rajasthan Political Crisis:  A CLP meeting chaired by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has come to an end and the CM is likely to meet the Rajasthan Governor today in a fresh bid to request him to convene an Assembly session on Monday. Meanwhile Congress party has announced that it will hold protests outside Raj Bhavans across the country to express their disagreement over Rajasthan Governor's delay in calling an Assembly Session in the state.  During the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) Meeting at Jaipur hotel, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that if required, the state government will go Rashtrapati Bhavan but will not let BJP succeed in its conspiracy against the government. He went on to say that if need be, the party will stage a ‘dharna’ at both Rashtrapati Bhavan and PMO. The MLAs raised their hands in assurance.

Rajasthan: Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting concludes at Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur. pic.twitter.com/25VUmRK0LF

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2020

On Friday afternoon Congress MLAs of Gehlot faction staged a drama inside Raj Bhavan demanding urgent assembly session to prove majority in the house. The protest continued for 4 hours after which the MLAs dispersed stating that the governor has demanded a fresh petition to call the assembly session. CM Gehlot also held a press conference yesterday alleging the governor Kalraj Mishra of delaying calling an Assembly session because he was "under pressure" to stall the test of strength. During the meeting, which went on past midnight, the cabinet discussed the six points raised by the Governor regarding the call for an Assembly session. A reworked proposal was sent to the Governor this morning; the focus of the session, it said, would be the coronavirus outbreak and resultant economic crisis. Governor Kalraj Mishra on Friday said that he will go by the constitution only. The Governor said he needed the state government's response on few points before making any announcement, claiming that Gehlot had not given any "justification" or "agenda" for calling the session on such short notice. The Congress has a narrow lead over the opposition and is only one past the majority mark of 101 in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly. Team Pilot claims the support of 30 MLAs. The BJP has 72. Including smaller parties and independent members, the opposition has 97 at the moment.