Ashok Gehlot hits out at Mayawati, alleges BSP chief towing BJP's line due to 'fear'

In a scathing attack on the BSP chief, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday alleged that Mayawati is making statements over her party MLAs merger with Congress at the behest of BJP and under "compulsion" due to fear of misuse of probe agencies.

"Behenji (Mayawati) has been put at the front by BJP and she is making statements at its (BJP's) behest. The way the BJP is misusing CBI and ED and it is intimidating and threatening...everyone knows what is happening in Rajasthan. We have never seen such a spectacle. She is afraid of it and is making statements out of compulsion," the CM wrote in Hindi on Twitter.

Mayawati has alleged that after Rajasthan election results, BSP gave unconditional support of all its six MLAs to Congress but CM Gehlot intended to damage her party and therefore merged the MLAs with Congress 'unconstitutionally'. 

The six BSP MLAs — R Gudha, Lakhan Singh, Deep Chand, JS Awana, Sandeep Kumar, and Wajib Ali — have been instructed to follow the whip failing which they would entail disqualification. All six MLAs had merged with Congress in September 2019, which has not been recognised by Mayawati.

The Rajasthan High Court has issued notices to the Speaker and Secretary of the Legislative Assembly, and six BSP MLAs in the state on a plea challenging the merger of these representatives with the Congress party.

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BJP's double-standards

Gehlot also targeted BJP whose MLA has filed a petition in court against assembly Speaker's decision concerning the merger of six BSP MLAs in the ruling Congress.

In a series of tweets, Gehlot said that BJP saw no problem when MLAs or MPs of other parties joined it. He said BJP justified its actions saying that two-thirds of legislators were joining according to provisions of the anti-defection law.

"In Goa, BJP took 10 of the 15 MLAs of the Congress on the basis of two-thirds. Four MPs of TDP merged with BJP in Rajya Sabha. In Rajasthan, all six MLAs of the BSP have merged the entire party within the Congress. When BJP's merger is right, how is this merger wrong? What would you call it?" Gehlot said.

"BJP got 4 MPs of TDP merged inside Rajya Sabha overnight, that merger is right and six MLAs merged in Congress in Rajasthan, that merger is wrong, then I want to ask where did BJP's chal, charitra, chehra go? Is it right to be merged in Rajya Sabha and is it wrong to be merged here?" he added.

Moreover, Gehlot said that he drags the name of Amit Shah during the political crisis because "he comes to the forefront" in such matters and cited examples of Karnataka, MP, Goa, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. "You think day and night, how do I topple an (opposition) government," he said.

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