19 Rajasthan Congress MLAs were absent from the meeting convened by the party at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s residence in Jaipur Monday. Although 100 MLAs were present in that meeting, there were only 89 from the Congress, which has 107 MLAs in the 200-member House. The meeting was a show of strength by the chief minister ahead of a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting slated for later today.
The party, however, adopted a conciliatory tone Monday as it stressed on the fact that its doors remain open for Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot who has alleged that he is being “sidelined” in the party.Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, who was sent to Jaipur to handle the political crisis, reiterated in a press conference that the state government is stable and urged those MLAs who have not turned up for the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to do so.
According to sources, around 97-100 MLAs have arrived in Jaipur for the CLP meeting and were present at the chief minister’s residence. Gehlot has claimed that 109 MLAs are with him. In the 200-member Rajasthan assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs while the BJP has 72. The Congress also has the support of 11 Independent MLAs, two MLAs of the Bharatiya Tribal Party, one RJD MLA and the outside support of two CPI(M) MLAs.