JAIPUR: The Congress is yet to settle its problems in Punjab and fresh trouble has surfaced for it in Rajasthan. Four of the six BSP-turned-Congress legislators from the state have reached New Delhi to seek ‘legal and political’ support to save their assembly memberships challenged before the Supreme Court under the anti-defection law.
The BSP and the BJP challenged the six MLAs’ memberships before the apex court and the Rajasthan high court soon after Sachin Pilot revolted against CM Ashok Gehlot’s leadership last year. The apex court on September 21 directed the six MLAs to submit their defence within four weeks, which has prompted them to scamper for support.
If the six lose their memberships, Congress would be reduced to 100 seats in the 200-member house. Pilot camp’s support would become even more crucial for the stability of the Ashok Gehlot-government in that eventuality. There are 71 BJP MLAs and 13 independents, besides others, in the state assembly. Two seats are vacant, for which bypolls are scheduled on October 30.
The legislators, whose merger into Congress was orchestrated by Gehlot in 2019, are said to be miffed with the Congress central and state leaderships for providing neither a “strong legal support” in courts nor accommodating them in the government. There were news reports that they were now ready to seek political support outside Congress too. Wajib Ali, one of the four MLAs camping in Delhi, however, refuted reports about seeking political support elsewhere.
MLA Joginder Singh Awana, who along with MLA Deepchand Kharia, has stayed back in Rajasthan, told the media in Jaipur that he was unaware of his four colleagues planning to meet BSP supremo Mayawati or BJP leader Amit Shah. “We again received a SC notice asking for a reply in four weeks recently, so maybe my colleagues got disturbed a bit. We joined Congress after following all legal procedures and will stay with it. Congress has a strong legal team to defend our case in the apex court,” Awana said, after meeting Gehlot.
Awana is likely to join the four MLAs—Wajib Ali, Rajendra Singh Gudha, Lakhan Singh and Sandeep Yadav—in Delhi soon. The four MLAs met senior lawyer Devdutt Kamat in Delhi on Thursday.
BSP state president Bhagwan Singh Baba, who moved the petition before the top court, told TOI, “We will not accept them back in the party at any cost. They have cheated us twice. All six will lose their memberships; we have faith in the court.”
Transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas dismissed reports that the six MLAs were seeking political support outside Congress as they were disappointed in being ‘ignored’ for long. “All six are now an integral part of the Congress and there is no threat to their memberships. We will not let any injustice happen to them,” the minister said. Khachariyawas claimed there was no threat to the stability of the Congress government in Rajasthan.
