AHEAD OF THE HC HEARING, RAJASTHAN CONGRESS MLAS START WITHDRAWING THEIR RESIGNATIONS
Two days before the scheduled court hearing on Monday on a petition alleging inaction on the topic, the Jaipur Rajasthan MLAs loyal to chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who resigned in bulk in September of this year, started withholding their resignations on Saturday.
On September 25, 2017, 91 Congress legislators handed in their resignation letters to the assembly speaker in opposition to any plans to instal Sachin Pilot, a former state deputy, as Rajasthan's chief minister.
A senior Congressman with knowledge of the issue said, "It was decided to withdraw the resignations to avoid any court action in the subject. Additionally, the circumstances surrounding the resignations' submission have become irrelevant.
On December 6, the Rajasthan high court sent CP Joshi, speaker of the state assembly, with a notice regarding public interest litigation (PIL) Rajendra Rathore had filed, citing his lack of action in considering the resignations of 91 Congress MLAs who had presented themselves to him. Joshi was given three weeks by the court to provide a reply.
The high court will hear the matter involving the collective resignation on January 2 after serving notice to the speaker.
Mahesh Joshi, the chief whip for the party, stated, "I have heard that MLAs are withdrawing resignations; this is between the MLAs and the speaker."
He continued, "If everyone is withdrawing (their resignation), then I am also one of them."
His comments come as the Congress government is getting ready to unveil its fifth budget; the assembly session is anticipated to begin on January 23.
According to Mahesh, CM Gehlot would present the state budget at the upcoming assembly session in accordance with public expectations.
Nagraj Meena, a Dhariyawad MLA, resigned and then retracted, saying, "I resigned and withdrew voluntarily."
"Elections are almost here," he declared in response to rumours that the state will shift guard. Why is it necessary to alter the CM? Every MLA is with the CM.
According to Dr Jitendra, a former minister and MLA for Khetri, "There was no communication from the high command to withdraw the resignations, but looking at the scenario, it was decided that everyone needs to withdraw the resignations."
Jitendra praised the state's chief minister, saying, "Gehlot is doing a terrific job in Rajasthan." My 35-year political career is now over. I have never seen so much work done in the past four years than under Gehlot.
Attacking the MLAs and the speaker of the state legislature, the deputy leader of the opposition claimed that 91 MLAs delivered their resignation letters to the speaker in person along with their signatures and that in accordance with assembly procedure rule 173, the resignation had to be accepted right away.
"The fact that it takes 90 days to test the one-line resignation's required format demonstrates that those who created this resignation game were unable to defend themselves in court. On January 2, the matter is scheduled to be heard by the top court. Therefore, a carefully thought-out plan to reverse the resignations has now been carried out, he stated.
