Rajasthan crisis: Governor, a partisan player

What started as a rebellion against the Congress government of Ashok Gehlot by the then deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other legislators some weeks ago has taken legal and constitutional dimensions and expanded beyond the state. The Congress MLAs are protesting the conduct of Governor Kalraj Mishra, who has refused to call a session of the assembly as sought by the chief minister, and the party is planning to extend its protests to Delhi and the state capitals. The state government and the Congress feel aggrieved and threatened because they sense a clear political plan being followed by the BJP to dislodge the government, with Sachin Pilot as a link in the plan and the Governor being used to implement it. They are also disappointed because the government did not get any relief from the judiciary even though it went to the highest court.

A series of events have happened after Pilot and his band raised the banner of revolt, with the group tellingly ensconced in Manesar in the BJP-ruled Haryana, and Gehlot hurrying to protect his folk and managing to secure the support of two MLAs of a small party. Charges of sale and purchase of MLAs have been raised with tapes of conversions involving a Central minister being aired in public, inviting counter-charges of illegal tapping and the threat of a CBI investigation. The Speaker’s disqualification notices to Pilot and his supporters assumed importance in the fluid situation because their disqualification would take the government beyond any immediate threat. That is why the Pilot camp questioned the Speaker’s disqualification powers in the high court. But the court’s order preventing disqualification of the MLAs and for the continuation of the status quo was unexpected and unprecedented, in view of the Supreme Court’s orders in the past which clearly laid down that "judicial review should not cover any stage prior to the making of a decision by the Speaker’’ with respect to disqualification under the anti-defection law. The Supreme Court has not given a verdict in the matter now, though the state government appealed against the high court order.

While the Pilot camp has tried to get a judicial order in their favour or to prolong the situation with the hope that more MLAs can be enticed, it is clear that the matter can resolved only on the floor of the House. Gehlot sought the convening of an Assembly session for a trial of strength on Monday, but the Governor has most unreasonably rejected the demand. The Governor is bound to act on the advice of the chief minister, and his rejection of the demand makes him a partisan player in the plot.