Rajasthan Government Crisis: Congress Said The Party Couldn’t Afford To Lose Another State

After Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot declared open rebellion and claimed that the Ashok Gehlot government in the state is in minority, Congress leader Avinash Pande on Monday said 109 MLAs have signed a letter of support to the CM. Pande, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, said some other MLAs are in touch with Gehlot and they will also sign the letter.

The Congress holds 107 seats in the 200 Rajasthan assembly and has the support of 10 Independent candidates. Also, 5 MLA’S from other parties -- the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the Bharatiya Tribal Party, and the CPM - support Mr. Gehlot.

Pilot on Sunday claimed that the Gehlot government is in minority as over 30 Congress MLAs have "pledged support" to him. In the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs. The BJP has 73 MLAs and is backed by 3 from the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party

Close sources in the Congress said the party couldn’t afford to lose another state, as it has already lost Karnataka and MP. The top Congress leadership was tight-lipped about the strategy for Rajasthan, some senior leaders said efforts were underway to keep all 107 MLAs together to avert any potential threat to the government in the wake of Pilot's claims of support of 30 MLAs.

The Congress is also assessing the future moves of Pilot and his bargaining power with the BJP, which the senior leaders alleged is the principal spoiler in the game.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot's residence in Jaipur, for Congress Legislative Party meeting. The meeting has started: Sources told ANI.