Amid a power tussle in Rajasthan, all eyes lay on Governor Kalraj Mishra

As the power struggle in Rajasthan grew intense, all eyes were on Governor Kalraj Mishra who has been accused by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of “being under pressure from the top” to prevent him from proving majority in the state assembly.

Congress MLAs led by Gehlot staged a five-hour sit-in protest on the Raj Bhawan lawns to press their demand of convening a session of the Rajasthan assembly. The protests were called off late Friday night after the Governor assured the MLAs to look into the matter and sought certain clarifications from the Chief Minister.

Gehlot summoned a meeting of the cabinet scheduled to being at 9:30 pm on Friday to address the doubts raised by the Governor on the proposal sent by the Chief Minister to summon a session of the assembly.

Protests by the Congress MLAs revived memories of a similar storming of the Raj Bhawan lawns by BJP leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in 1993 demanding that he be called to form the government in the state.

“We requested him to call a session in a letter yesterday and we waited all night, but there was no response,” the Chief Minister said.

“I told him that you must follow your conscience and uphold the dignity of the constitutional post. The people of Rajasthan are with us. If the masses surround Raj Bhawan in protest, we will not be responsible,” Gehlot said.

According to the Constitution, the Governor is bound to accept the recommendation of the Council of Ministers to convene a session of the state assembly.

Congress stepped up pressure on the Governor for calling a session after it failed to get a favourable ruling from the Rajasthan High Court ordered status quo to be maintained in the disqualification case against rebel leader Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs camping in the national capital region.

“We are ready to prove our majority. The opposition (BJP) should welcome it, but here the river flows in the opposite direction (ulti Ganga behti hai),” Gehlot told reporters after meeting the Governor on Friday afternoon.

Gehlot has a wafer thin majority in the assembly after Pilot’s rebellion – 102 in the House of 200, against his claims of 109. Pilot had claimed support of 30 MLAs, but has only 18.