Published 07:39 IST, July 19th 2020
Rajasthan MLAs from Gehlot camp watch 'Lagaan' at Fairmont Hotel; BJP takes jibe at Cong
Even as the political mess in Rajasthan gets murkier, MLAs hold up in Jaipur's Fairmont hotel were spotted watching Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan on Saturday
Even as the political mess in Rajasthan gets murkier after Home Ministry demands a report on alleged phone tapping and Vasundhara Raje distancing herself from alleged talks with Ashok Gehlot, MLAs holed up in Jaipur's Fairmont hotel were spotted watching Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan. This comes a day after a video accessed by Republic TV showed that MLAs were attending cooking classes and watching Mughal-e-Azam. Earlier, videos have shown that MLAs in Manesar are performing Yoga and relaxing at the hotel's lawn.
As the MLAs were spotted watching movies, BJP's Sambit Patra has taken a jibe at Congress and said that neglecting the people of their constituencies, the MLAs are busy watching movies and learning how to make 'pizza, pasta'.
Rajasthan political mess
A deadlock has begun in the state with Sachin Pilot's silence on his further plans and after Congress sacked him from Cabinet post. The Rajasthan High Court on Friday adjourned the plea filed by Pilot and his MLAs to Monday at 10 AM. Moreover, the Rajasthan Speaker has assured the court that no action will be taken against the MLAs till 5:30 pm on Tuesday. Pilot and his dissenting MLAs who are currently hold in hotels in Gurugram had challenged the disqualification notice issued by the Speaker.
On the other side, the Rajasthan SOG produced the audio clip which allegedly features businessman Sanjay Jain talking to MLAs about money transactions in a sessions court in Jaipur. Ashok Singh and Bharat Malani have also been arrested. The SOG team visited hotels in Haryana and issued a notice to the 19 rebel MLAs to collect evidence in the form of voice samples. Meanwhile, BJP has denied the allegations and demanded CBI inquiry on alleged phone tapping. Furthermore, the Ministry of Home Affairs, on Saturday, sought a report from Rajasthan’s Chief Secretary over the phone tapping issue in the state, as per ANI sources.
Additionally, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, on Saturday, called upon Governor Kalraj Mishra at Raj Bhavan. In his , While Gehlot maintains that the 45-minutes meeting was a customary visit, sources report that Gehlot has submitted a list of MLAs supporting his government - including Congress, BTP and Independent, after formally receiving the support of 2 BTP MLAs.
The political crisis in Rajasthan began after the State's SOG issued notices to multiple MLAs including CM and Deputy CM in connection with the alleged involvement of BJP leaders for toppling the state government. Following the incident, CM Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of attempting to topple his government amid the COVID-19 crisis. A day later, on July 11, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot went to Delhi with some of his supporting legislators.
Sources said that he had a one-on-one meeting with senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and had put out his grievances, while they also added that he met Jyotiraditya Scindia. Thereafter, Pilot and MLAs supporting him skipped two CLP meeting, following which Congress sacked him from the cabinet post and issued disqualification notices.
Updated 07:42 IST, July 19th 2020