BTP withdraws support from Rajasthan govt, cries foul over Cong-BJP tie-up in Dungarpur

In a significant development on Friday, the Chhotubhai Vasava-led Bharatiya Tribal Party pulled the plug on the alliance with the ruling Congress party in Rajasthan. Founded by Vasava in 2017, BTP had not only voted for the Congress' candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls held in June but also supported the Ashok Gehlot government during the trust vote in the state Assembly. At present, BTP has 2 legislators in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.

This announcement comes after Congress did not back an Independent candidate supported by BTP for the Dungarpur Zila Pramukh post. In a surprising turn of events, BJP and Congress joined hands to elect another Independent as the Zila Pramukh. This did not go down well with BTP, which has decided to contest all future elections on its own. Writing on Twitter, Vasava opined that both BJP and Congress wanted to finish local parties by conveniently stitching alliances with them. BTP’s exit comes at a time when Congress could win only 1852 seats as compared to that of BJP’s 1989 seats in the recent Panchayat polls.  

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Gehlot alleges a plot to topple the government

Addressing a virtual function on December 5, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot again accused BJP of conspiring to topple the Congress government in the State. Moreover, he claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his Cabinet colleague Dharmendra Pradhan had personally met some Congress MLAs in this regard. On this occasion, Gehlot revealed that these legislators told him that they were ashamed about Shah being the Home Minister of the country.

Thereafter, he contrasted the legacy of Shah with that of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. According to the senior Congress leader, his party MLAs were informed by BJP that it had toppled five other State governments in the past. He also added that the BJP leaders promised to engineer the fall of the government in Rajasthan too. 

However, Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia hit back at Gehlot's claims and alleged he was making excuses for the misgovernance in the last two years. Furthermore, he lamented that Gehlot had hurled accusations at Shah and Pradhan without any proof. Mocking the Congress leader for repeatedly crying foul over the stability of his government, the Rajasthan BJP president advised the former to focus on infighting within his own party.

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