Published 08:18 IST, June 13th 2020
Sena attacks BJP over chaos in Rajasthan; asks if Sachin Pilot met saffron party netas
Shiv Sena via mouthpiece Saamana has asked if Sachin Pilot met BJP netas amid political chaos in Rajasthan, and slammed BJP for toppling govt during COVID-19
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Hitting out at BJP amid the political chaos in Rajasthan ahead of Rajya Sabha polls, Shiv Sena via its mouthpiece Saamana has said that the saffron party is destabilizing government even during COVID-19 pandemic. Taunting on the statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convert the 'pandemic into an opportunity', Sena said that his party is busy doing so by destabilising elected governments. Accusing the BJP of the fall of Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, Sena questioned if Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan met the BJP bigwigs in Delhi. Shiv Sena also said that BJP had attempted the same in Maharashtra and made all efforts for disturbing CM Uddhav Thackeray's government.
"There are also rumors that Sachin Pilot met BJP bigwigs in Delhi, it may be wrong, but this is like warning bell for the Congress camp."
It added: "BJP leaders tried to cash on to the opportunity to topple the government in Rajasthan. Congress Rajya Sabha from Gujarat were also hijacked by BJP. Similar efforts were made in Maharashtra also. Right now the priority is to win the battle against Coronavirus not topple opposition governments."
Political chaos in Rajasthan
Ahead of Rajya Sabha polls in Rajasthan, resort politics and horse-trading began. Currently, Congress has 107 MLAs in the Rajasthan Assembly having a strength of 200 members. The other members include 72 legislators from BJP, 13 Independents, three from the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, two each from CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party and one from RLD. As each candidate requires 51 first preference votes to win, two Congress and one BJP candidates were expected to be elected unopposed. However, BJP fielding two candidates- Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh Lakhawat set off alarm bells in the ruling Congress camp.
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The Congress on Wednesday charged the BJP with attempts to destabilise the Rajasthan government and CM Gehlot had claimed that some of the party MLAs were offered Rs 25 crore each. Thereafter, Congress took all its MLAs to a Jaipur resort to prevent horse-trading ahead of Rajya Sabha polls on June 19.
While, Deputy CM Pilot asserted that all the MLAs of the ruling coalition were united and would ensure a comfortable victory for the two Congress candidates in the upcoming the Rajya Sabha polls, in a last-ditch attempt, Rajasthan chief whip Mahesh Joshi, wrote to the state Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), alleging that certain 'anti-political' entities were involved in horse-trading of MLAs.
08:18 IST, June 13th 2020