Attempts to topple Rajasthan government being made: Congress

Congress on Wednesday claimed that attempts are being made to topple the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan by offering allurements to independent legislators supporting it.

Congress chief whip in the Rajasthan Assembly, Mahesh Joshi shot off a letter to the Director General of the Anti Corruption Bureau claiming that his sources had told him about attempts to de-stabilise the state government on the lines of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

The letter, however, does not name the BJP, but claimed that attempts are being made by offering allurements to legislators of the Congress as well as Independents supporting the government.

Congress has 107 legislators in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly. The party is supported by 12 Independents, two members each of the CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party and one MLA of the Rashtriya Lok Dal. BJP has 72 legislators and enjoys the support of three Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLAs and one Independent.

The allegations come ahead of the elections to the three Rajya Sabha seats where BJP has queered the pitch for the Congress by fielding an extra candidate with the hope of winning support of the Independents.

With its current strength, Congress is assured of winning two seats, while one would go to the BJP.

A similar battle of nerves is on in neighbouring Gujarat where three Congress MLAs have quit, dimming its chances of ensuring victory of two of its candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections for four seats.

A group of Congress MLAs from Gujarat are currently camping in a resort in Rajasthan in an attempt to shield them from allurement allegedly offered by the BJP.

In March, 22 Congress MLAs switched loyalties to the BJP bringing down the 15-month old government led by Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

In July last year, similar defections in Karnataka had led to the fall of the Congress-JD(S) government led by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.