Rajasthan: BSP issues whip asking its 6 MLAs to vote against Congress in case of no-confidence motion

In what comes as fresh trouble for the Congress in Rajasthan, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) issued a whip on Sunday directing its all six MLAs in the state legislative assembly to vote against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in case of a no-confidence motion. The whip was signed by Satish Chandra Mishra, the National General Secretary of the Mayawati-led BSP.

BSP issues whip to its 6 MLAs- R Gudha, Lakhan Singh, Deep Chand, JS Awana, Sandeep Kumar & Wajib Ali, who are elected to Rajasthan Assembly, directing them to vote against Congress in any "No Confidence Motion" or any proceedings to be held during Rajasthan Assembly Session. pic.twitter.com/wvbnZWslVQ

— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2020

All the aforementioned six legislators had won on a BSP ticket in the 2018 polls and the party had decided to merge with the Congress in 2019. However, the BSP has now asked its MLAs to not vote in favour of Congress in any “no-confidence motion” or any proceedings to be held during the Rajasthan Assembly Session.

In September 2019, all six BSP MLAs in Rajasthan - Rajendra Gudha (MLA from Udaipurwati), Jogendra Singh Awana (MLA from Nadbai), Lakhan Singh Meena (MLA from Karauli), Wajib Ali (MLA from Nagar), Sandeep Yadav (MLA from Tijara) and Deepchand Kheria (MLA from Kishangarhbas) - had joined Congress. The MLAs had informed Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi about their decision to join the Congress.

In its statement yesterday, the BSP stated that all the six legislators were also issued separate notices informing that their merger with the Congress in Rajasthan is not valid, citing that such a merger is untenable under the Xth Schedule of the Indian Constitution because the BSP is a 'national party' and that such a merger would only be tenable if it merged with the Congress in all states and at the Centre.

The BSP has also insisted that President`s rule should be imposed in Rajasthan in view of the political crisis and COVID-19 situation in the state.

"BSP chief Mayawati had issued a press note over the state`s current situation where she said that when people are suffering due to the pandemic, the government, on the other hand, locks their MLAs in a five-star hotel instead of letting them work for public welfare. BSP believes that in view of the current situation in the state, President`s rule should be imposed in Rajasthan," Satish Chandra Misra, the party`s national general secretary, told news agency ANI.

"For the first time, a Chief Minister is going to stage a protest at Raj Bhavan. This proves that the law and order situation has been affected in the state. Governor should take a decision in this matter and President's rule should be imposed in Rajasthan without any delay in the view of political crisis and COVID-19 situation," he said.

Rajasthan plunged into a political crisis after differences between former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was removed as the Deputy Chief Minister and the state unit chief of Congress party.