oppn parties Rajasthan: Is Ashok Gehlot Now On Unsure Ground?

Story Of The Day

A 2,458-Point Rally Is Not Yet A Recovery

November 07, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About Junk Food Near Schools

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
oppn parties
Rajasthan: Is Ashok Gehlot Now On Unsure Ground?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-07-27 17:50:27

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The political and legal drama in Rajasthan is becoming murkier by the day. There are new angles added every day with the Governor and the Chief Minister trying to outdo each other in political maneuvering. After Governor Kalraj Mishra rejected the Rajasthan cabinet's first advice to call a session of the assembly citing, in the main, three reasons - missing date, missing agenda and two court cases, Gehlot moved quickly to rectify that. He provided a date and said that the agenda was to discuss the Covid situation and the economy. The Speaker withdrew his plea against the Sachin Pilot camp in the Supreme Court. Hence, the three main objections of the Governor were satisfactorily dealt with. Or so the Congress thought.

But they had not bargained with the wiles of Kalraj Mishra. The Governor sent another letter to the Chief Minister, which, though not saying that he will not call the assembly session as requested, asked the government whether it would consider giving a 21-day notice due to the Covid situation as the MLAs would need time to gather in Jaipur. He also pointedly asked Gehlot about the floor test, saying that while it was not mentioned in the agenda but Gehlot has been talking about it in public and before the media. Lastly, the Governor also asked what steps would the government take to ensure social distancing norms would be strictly followed during the session. But interestingly, he has advised the state government to initiate steps to convene the session.

It is obvious that the Governor is playing for time. As per the constitution and several decisions by the Supreme Court, he is bound to follow the advice of the state cabinet. The 21-day notice he speaks of is the stated norm. But it is not mandatory and the state cabinet has the right to ask for an assembly session to be convened at shorter notice or even urgently. Thus, the Governor's insistence on a 21-day notice is strange. Also, he has been given the agenda. It is not fair on his part to demand to know whether the government will hold a floor test during the session. That is for the government to decide in the assembly. The Governor should issue the summons to the MLAs for the assembly session as early as feasible.

In another development, a miffed Mayawati has joined the battle by not recognizing the act of 6 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislators in Rajasthan of merging the state unit with the Congress. They had done so to escape the provisions of the anti-defection law. Mayawati said that since the BSP was a national party with a presence in many states, any such decision needs the clearance of the national executive. The BSP has issued a whip to the 6 legislators to vote against the Congress. But if a floor test is held and they vote for the Congress, their vote will count although they will stand disqualified thereafter. Hence, the fear of disqualification might make them vote against the Congress. This has queered the pitch further for Gehlot as he claims the support of only 103 MLAs. If the BSP MLAs vote against him, it will go down to 97, which is well below the majority mark of 101 in the 200-member house.

As things stand now, it is not clear whether the Congress will gain by abandoning the legal route and going all out for the political one. The picture that is emerging from various sources is that while a few from the Pilot camp may switch loyalties once they are in Jaipur, there are also chances that if the Governor succeeds in delaying the assembly session by a week or ten days, the rebels may be able to get a few Congress MLAs to switch sides. Then there is the question of which way will the BSP MLAs vote. For all his maneuverings in the last two weeks and the impression that he had successfully warded off the coup attempt, Gehlot is on unsure ground. It is also clear that he will be spending sleepless nights for the next few days. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

A Bench in Chennai Is Not the Answer to a Bench in Every Capital

A Bench in Chennai Is Not the Answer to a Bench in Every Capital

 Gold At Astana Must Become a System, Not a Story

Gold At Astana Must Become a System, Not a Story

In Depth

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Editor's Pick

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.