NEW DELHI/JAIPUR: Amid the ongoing political slugfest in Rajasthan, BSP supremo Mayawati on Tuesday hit out at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, saying “he will be taught a lesson for the theft of MLAs”.
Six BSP MLAs had first extended their support to the Gehlot-led government and later, in September 2019, they “merged” with the Congress in Rajasthan.
Mayawati said she would move the Supreme Court against the “unconstitutional merger”. Her remarks came on a day when BJP MLA from Kota Madan Dilawar filed a second petition in the Rajasthan High Court challenging the Assembly Speaker’s decision allowing the merger of the six BSP MLAs with the Congress. The court had junked his first plea.
Hearing on the fresh petition will take place on Wednesday. Mayawati said the Gehlot government was crying foul over poaching of its MLAs while the Congress itself had taken away six BSP legislators last year. In a video shared by a news agency, Mayawati said, “The Congress is saying their MLAs are being stolen which is unlawful and is against the public mandate.
Their claim is laughable since they themselves did the same when they took away BSP MLAs. This is akin to the proverb ‘ulta chor kotwal ko daante’ (the pot calling the kettle black).”The BSP has also approached the court seeking to be made a party in Dilawar’s petition.
“The BSP could have gone to the court earlier, but we were looking for time to teach the Congress and CM Ashok Gehlot a lesson. Now we have decided to go to the court. We will go even to the Supreme Court,” said Mayawati. Refuting Congress allegations of playing into the BJP hands, she said the BSP had ordered the MLAs to vote against Congress in any test of strength in the Assembly.