Rajasthan crisis live updates: Constitution supreme for me, there is no pressure, says Rajasthan governor

Governor Mishra accepted the cabinet’s revised proposal — its fourth — late in the evening and instructed the authorities to make arrangements for the special session with adequate protection against Covid-19.

The Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday filed a writ petition in the Rajasthan high court challenging the merger of six BSP MLAs with the ruling Congress in Rajasthan. Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali, Deepchand Kheria, Lakhan Meena, Jogendra Awana and Rajendra Gudha contested and won the 2018 assembly elections on BSP tickets. They all defected to the Congress in September 2019. BSP state president Bhagwan Singh Baba said, We have today filed a writ petition in the high court against the merger of BSP MLAs with Congress". The merger of BSP MLAs with the ruling Congress was a boost to the Ashok Gehlot-led government as the tally of the Congress increased to 107 in the house of 200.

Rebel Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma has moved the Rajasthan high court seeking quashing of an FIR against him in connection with the audio tapes case dealing with an alleged conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot government. The MLA, who is in the Sachin Pilot camp, on Tuesday moved the court, alternatively demanding the transfer of the investigation into the case to the National Investigation Agency from the Special Operation Group of the Rajasthan police. The SOG had registered the FIR against Sharma on July 17 on charges of sedition (124 A) and criminal conspiracy (120 B) under the Indian Penal Code. The case had been registered on a complaint by Congress Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi after surfacing of three audio tapes in one of which Sharma is allegedly talking to Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for toppling the Ashok Gehlot government through horse-trading.

A day after Congress staged a nationwide 'Save Democracy' protest, Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy slammed Congress for "dividing" the political parties and "buying MLAs" and questioned their "democratic behaviour" to lure Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs who supported them.Kumaraswamy, in a media statement, said, "Is it a democratic behaviour to lure MLAs of other parties through political shenanigans and later merging with them?""Congress is an expert in dividing political parties and purchase of MLAs," said Kumaraswamy adding, "If you are dividing the like-minded party MLAs through deceit, who would support you?"He alleged that the term "horse trade" in politics came to be used because of Congress.Congress had tied to divide the Janata Dal (Secular) in 2004. To this, he added, "To avoid the party being hijacked by the Congress, I had to oust the Congress-JD(S) coalition government through a political coup."

Congress rebel MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma has approached the high court seeking to quash the FIR filed by the SOG or the investigation be handed over to the NIA in the alleged horse-trading case.Sharma had made the state government and the investigating officer of the case and the central government a party to the petition. Sharma, who has been suspended from the party, is one of the 19 MLAs now camping in Haryana’s Manesar seeking a change of leadership of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. The ruling Congress had released audio tapes in which Sharma was heard purportedly talking to middleman Sanjay Jain and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat about plans to topple the Gehlot government by horse-trading of MLAs.

BJP MLA Madan Dilawar filed two fresh petitions before the Rajasthan high court challenging the BSP-Congress merger on Tuesday. Both the petitions were listed for hearing before the single bench of Justice Mahendar Kumar Goyal on Wednesday.The first petition challenges speaker CP Joshi’s decision on the BJP MLA’s complaint against the merger, while the second petition challenges the BSP-Congress merger as violation of Constitution’s Schedule X.