Rajasthan Political Crisis: The hearing will continue tomorrow
Six MLAs who shifted from Mayawati's party to the Congress will be able to vote during the trust vote of Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot government, which, sources said, is likely to be held tomorrow. The Supreme Court, which was hearing a BJP MLA's petition for a temporary freeze on the merger, has refused to allow it. The court left the decision to a single judge in Rajasthan, which is hearing the matter.
The petition had asked the top court to urgently take a call on the matter in view of the beginning of the assembly session.
But during the hearing today, a three-judge bench said, "We will not interfere in this case at this stage since High Court is already hearing it". The court said it will take up the case on Monday, after waiting for the decision of the High Court.
The single judge bench of the high court, which was expected to give an interim order on August 11, has refused. "The court said that it cannot give any decision unless all parties involved had their say," Dinesh Garg, who is representing the Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, told NDTV.
The hearing will continue tomorrow.
For now, the absence of any interim order has left the former BSP legislators free to participate in the proceedings of a special assembly session that will begin tomorrow.
Sources said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who had been on tenterhooks for a month because of the rebellion of Sachin Pilot, will take the first opportunity to hold a trust vote. If the government can prove its majority in a trust vote, it cannot be challenged for the next six months, rules say.
Sources said Mr Gehlot will prefer to ensure the safety of his government , even though Mr Pilot and his rebel loyalists are back in fold.
Mr Pilot ended his rebellion on Monday after talks with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in which it was decided that a three-member committee will look into his grievances.
Mr Gehlot chose to stay away in Jaisalmer when Mr Pilot finally returned to Jaipur yesterday, signaling that all is not well.
This morning, however, he tweeted that he was all for "forget and forgive" and moving on and later announced the meeting of Congress MLAs. Mr Pilot is expected to meet his former boss at the meeting, which is expected to take place at 5 pm.