Governors forcing floor tests on reluctant chief ministers has been a frequent occurrence through India’s seven decades of democracy. But 2...
Governors forcing floor tests on reluctant chief ministers has been a frequent occurrence through India’s seven decades of democracy. But 2020 has bought a curious inversion: for the first time, it is a chief minister who needed to convince a reluctant governor that there should be a floor test to see whether his government enjoys the support of the majority of the members of the state assembly.
Late in Wednesday, Rajasthan’s governor accepted a petition from the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan cabinet to call for a session of the assembly. This was Gehlot’s fourth request in seven days. The earlier three had been rejected.
The political deal making going on behind the scenes is not difficult to fathom. Gehlot, facing a revolt from 19 MLAs from his Congress party, is seeking to quickly prove his majority in the house, before things get worse. Before the crisis erupted earlier this month, the Congress had the backing of 125 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, including 107 from its own party. The governor, a former minister in the Modi government, wants to prevent Gehlot from marking himself safe. As a result, the governor sought to delay the session. In the end, the Gehlot administration had to...
