Former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot and MLAs in his faction got a reprieve on Tuesday as Speaker CP Joshi deferred action on the rebel group till July 24 upon the request from the Rajasthan High Court. The Congress started preparing for the trust vote after a meeting of its Legislature Party and the Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Gehlot continued his tirade on the breakaway group and said the efforts to topple his government will not succeed. He was confident that the Congress government will complete the term. “The State government is fighting with coronavirus crisis and at the same time, a leader who was a state Congress president and a few other MLAs in collusion with the BJP were hatching a conspiracy to topple it,” he said addressing the party legislators. “This is intolerable and condemnable. Those betraying the party will not be able to show their faces in public,” he added.

Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi said in a statement after the meeting that the Congress legislators are firm in the fight to save the Government. “The fight will continue till the victory of truth, he claimed, adding that his government is strong and stable and will continue to serve people of the State for five years. The truth will prevail and the State government will emerge victorious in all circumstances,” he said. AICC leaders Avinash Pande, KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Randeep Surjewala and Vivek Bansal also attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday requested the Legislative Assembly Speaker to defer action on disqualification notices till Friday as it will pass appropriate orders on the writ petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 dissident legislators on that day, the speaker’s counsel said. Arguments were heard and completed on Tuesday.

Written arguments

All the parties have been asked to file their written arguments by Friday.

“The court will now pass appropriate orders on July 24. The speaker was also requested to defer action on the notices till Friday,” the counsel for the Speaker said. The court also allowed the application of two other parties to be included as respondents on Tuesday. “It will become clear on July 24 whether the court pronounces the final order or interim order,” the counsel said.

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