Rajasthan Political Crisis: Ashok Gehlot-led Congress regime wins back support of two BTP MLAs

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday won back the support of two MLAs of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), days after the regional party had severed ties with the Gehlot-led Congress government in the state. The party has two MLAs in the state legislative assembly - Ramprasad and Rajkumar Roat.

Interestingly, the BTP had earlier on Monday severed ties with the Gehlot regime, with a whip issued to its legislators asking them to strictly refrain from supporting the Congress government in the case of a floor test.

Shortly after this, the political drama surrounding these two legislators intensified, with Roat claiming a day later that he was being held in a "hostage-like situation" and that the state police was restricting his public movement  in Jaipur in the wake of his party's withdrawal of support from the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress regime.

However, during this while, Gehlot has always claimed that the BTP will support his government and that the withdrawal of support was due to misunderstanding.

Days later, here we are, with the BTP MLAs reaffirming their support with the Gehlot government. The Chief Minister took to his official account on the microblogging social network Twitter to confirm the news of the legislators announcing their support.

"Both MLAs of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) announced their support to the government after meeting their state executive officials and discussing with their demands," Gehlot tweeted in Hindi on the website.

His office also posted a photo of him receiving a letter of support from the MLAs.

भारतीय ट्राइबल पार्टी (बीटीपी) के दोनों विधायकों ने उनकी प्रदेश कार्यकारिणी के पदाधिकारियों के साथ मुलाक़ात कर और अपने मांगपत्र के साथ चर्चा कर सरकार को समर्थन देने की घोषणा की। pic.twitter.com/a2783tQYDo

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) July 18, 2020

Shortly thereafter, Chief Minister Gehlot met Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra at his official residence and informed him about the measures taken by the state government against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak.

Rajasthan Congress continues to remain in turmoil after simmering differences between Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was sacked as Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief on July 14.

Gehlot has blamed the BJP for attempting to destabilise the state government by poaching MLAs.

Pilot was miffed after the SOG sent him a notice to record his statement in a case of alleged poaching of Congress MLAs in the state.

Team Pilot had claimed the support of as many as 30 rebel MLAs who were ready to abandon the Gehlot-led Congress regime if push came to shove. However, as reports now stand, the rebels including Pilot are stated to be 19, along with three independents who are also supporting them.

With the return of two MLAs to Gehlot's camp, the number of legislators supporting the government has increased to 105, as it is correctly hypothesized that in such a precarious situation, every single MLA's support counts, as the Chief Minister needs to have the support of at least 101 legislators to maintain his regime.