India / Rajasthan Governor sends back CM's proposal seeking Assembly session from July 31

Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot met Governor Kalraj Mishra on Wednesday after Raj Bhavan returned his proposal to convene the session of the state assembly for the third time, officials said.

Gehlot, while addressing a programme at Congress’ state unit office, said a “prem patra” or love letter has come from the Rajasthan governor. This was the second time he referred to the governor’s rejection as a love letter.

“The love letter has already come. Now, I am only going to have tea with him. You have sent the letter a third time. What do you want? Tell us, so that we work in that manner,” Gehlot said in his address at the Pradesh Congress Committee office, where Govind Singh Dotasra formally took over as the new chief of the state unit.

Addressing the Congress workers, the chief minister asked them not to be worried and assured them that “the high command is with you all”.

“For the first time in history, sit-in protests were staged across the country outside Raj Bhavans. The Speak Up Democracy campaign was successful and it will continue. After the campaign the workers are enthused and a message conveyed in the public,” he said.

Gehlot said there will be a new turning point when victory will be achieved in Rajasthan.

“We will win and those who have betrayed will be back after apologising the high command and their decision will be followed. People’s trust should not be broken by anyone,” he said.

The state government had sent its third proposal to Mishra to reiterate its demand to convene an assembly session from July 31 without mentioning whether it will seek a trust vote in the House.

Before that, the governor had suggested a 21-day notice period to convene the House, sought clarity on the session’s agenda and advised live-streaming of the floor test, in case it was held and also asked about Covid-19 related precautions in the assembly.

The Gehlot-led cabinet, which met on Tuesday, had claimed Governor Mishra did not have any locus standi in stipulating conditions to hold the session. The cabinet asked Mishra to abide by its proposal and claimed the failure to do so would be unconstitutional.

It also asserted that the agenda of the session will be determined by the business advisory committee of the house. It was the speaker’s domain to decide on social distancing norms in the assembly.