Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra on Monday agreed to summon assembly session if Ashok Gehlot government agrees on giving a 21-day notice.
This comes after Mishra returned to the Gehlot-led government a note seeking an assembly session and sought additional information.
Although Mishra is bound to accept Gehlot government's recommendation for convening an Assembly session, he has stopped short of expressly granting a time and date. No warrant for convening a session has been issued by the Raj Bhavan either.
"Not convening the Assembly was never the intention," the Governor's office said.
"Do you want to move Motion of Confidence? It's not mentioned in the proposal but you've been speaking about it in media," the Governor asked in his query.
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The Gehlot cabinet will meet this evening to discuss the tentative schedule for the Assembly session and also draft replies to the three issues raised in Mishra's letter to Gehlot.
Congress sources believe that the Rajasthan Governor is deliberately egging on the Gehlot government to give a written undertaking to the Raj Bhavan stating that seeking a floor test is among the reasons for which it wants the Assembly to be convened.
On the Governor's query for a 21-day notice for convening a session, the Congress has already made it clear that the Constitution does not require such time-bound notice to be given to the Governor for purpose of convening a session and that across the country assemblies have been convened within a week of the cabinet urging respective Governors issuing warrants to summon a session of the House.
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Congress spokesperson and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi says as per the Constitution and judgements of the Supreme Court, governments are also not bound to inform the Governor of the prospective agenda for convening an Assembly session.
"It will be difficult to call all the MLAs for the Assembly Session in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Can you consider giving a 21-day notice over the convening of Assembly Session?" Rajasthan Governor said earlier on Monday.
The cabinet had sent a revised proposal to the governor for calling the assembly session from July 31 on Saturday, a day after he returned the government's first proposal.
The Congress government, which is facing a political crisis after a rebellion by the now sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs, says it wants to hold the session so that it can prove its majority.
Gehlot has alleged that the governor is facing pressure "from above" to stall the assembly from meeting, hinting at the alleged involvement of the BJP government at the Centre in the tussle for power in the state.
Mishra has denied the charge.
Including the 19 dissidents, the Congress has 107 MLAs in the 200-member assembly and the BJP 72.
(With PTI Inputs)
