India / BJP to move no-confidence motion against Gehlot govt in Raj Assembly tomorrow

Jaipur: In a huge twist to the Rajasthan Congress crisis, the BJP has announced that it will move a no-confidence motion against the Ashok Gehlot government in the special assembly session starting tomorrow.

Vasundhara Raje and other top Rajasthan BJP leaders met earlier today to plan for the session. It was the first meeting of BJP MLAs since the Congress rebel crisis broke out early July, pushing the Ashok Gehlot government to the verge of collapse.

Sachin Pilot ended his rebellion on Monday after a patch-up with the Congress leadership.

"We are bringing a no-confidence motion tomorrow in the Assembly along with our allies," said Gulab Chand Kataria, Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly.

Through the Congress's month-long rebel crisis, the BJP denied any attempt to seize power by drawing away MLAs. The party had also said it would not call for a no-confidence motion and that it was up to the Congress to call a trust vote to prove its majority.

The BJP cancelled its previous MLAs' meet scheduled on Tuesday after the Congress patch-up.

"We are reworking our strategy," Ghulabchand Kataria had told Tuesday, insisting that despite the truce, the Congress would not complete its five-year term.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who has repeatedly accused the BJP of collaborating with his sacked deputy Sachin Pilot and other rebels, said: "The BJP doesn't know what hit them! They suddenly cancelled their meeting. They realized that their conspiracy didn't work."

The revolt by Sachin Pilot and 18 other rebels left Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with 102 MLAs, barely one above the majority mark in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly.

The BJP had 72 MLAs and needs 30 more to take power. The rebel camp claimed the backing of 30 but officially, that number was stuck at 19.