A month after rebellion from 19 dissident Congress MLAs threatened the survival of his government, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sailed through the trust vote in the state Assembly on Friday.
The government won the confidence motion with voice vote. After this, Gehlot has emerged as a much stronger leader than before. The development also came to the relief of Congress high command which has been at the tenterhook for the last one month.
CM Gehlot said that his “government winning the confidence vote is a message to the forces trying to destabilise the elected governments in the country”.
It is believed that the Rajasthan victory will give much-needed oxygen to the Congress which has been struggling to revive for a long time now. The party lost one state after another during the past one and a half years — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Goa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
Apart from giving Congress a fresh lease of life, Gehlot managed to thwart the BJP’s alleged attempt to destabilise his government. In a veiled message to the saffron outfit, Gehlot said that the public would teach them a lesson if they continued to do so.
There were ample hints from what Gehlot said after winning the trust vote that from now onwards he will sharpen his attack against PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Congress is also believed to be working on this line.
With nothing substantial left in its armoury, the BJP withdrew its no confidence motion even before the Assembly session began. There of course were some bouts of tiff between the ruling side and the Opposition initially. But the government was in full confidence due to the majority being on its side.
After the house was over, former chief minister and BJP heavyweight Vasundhara Raje on being asked about the month-long political turmoil said, “I was busy in puja during Sawan at my Dhaulpur residence. So, I am not aware of all that happened.” While making these comments, Raje’s smile and said what she didn’t. It lent credence to the impression about the BJP’s house not being in order. In the lighter vein, some said it was because of her being busy with this “puja” that the BJP couldn’t succeed. Whatever clarifications come from the BJP, but the saffron party’s internal fight also helped Gehlot save his government. Raje remained silent all along. She did not speak in the House during the trust vote. Gehlot made it a point to direct his attack on the central BJP leadership.
The BJP did not insist on division of votes, given the numbers on the government side. Looking happy after the victory, Gehlot met Speaker C.P. Joshi. He listed out his priorities in serving the people.
Earlier, Rajasthan parliamentary affair minister Shanti Dhariwal moved a motion of confidence in the Assembly. Initiating the debate on the motion, Dhariwal blamed the Centre for trying to “topple” the governments in Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Goa, using money and power, but said a similar attempt in Rajasthan would not succeed.
Referring to Akbar, he said the Mughal emperor had to taste defeat in Mewar of Rajasthan during his quest to expand his empire. Similarly, the BJP’s attempts to topple the Gehlot-led Congress government were defeated, he added. Ahead of the trust vote, CM Gehlot had said it would be “a victory of truth”.