Rajasthan Governor stalling request to convene assembly session: Chidambaram

New Delhi [India], July 27 : Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra is stalling the valid request of the council of ministers to convene a session of the legislative assembly, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram alleged on Monday.
Chidambaram also said governors appointed by the BJP had earlier too "acted in gross violation of the Constitution in Arunachal Pradesh (2016), Uttarakhand (2016) and Karnataka (2019)."
"The Governor of Rajasthan has stalled -- and continues to stall -- a perfectly valid request of the council of ministers of Rajasthan to convene a session of the legislative assembly. It is settled law that the governor shall act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers. The Governor has no discretion -- let me repeat, no discretion at all -- in the matter. The questions that the Governor had raised to stall the request were irrelevant and beyond his authority," Chidambaram said in a statement.
"His current stand that the law gives him a 'discretion' to summon the Assembly or not is a complete distortion of the law declared by the courts," he added.
The Rajya Sabha MP further said that his party was "astonished and anguished by the attitude of the Governor" and hoped that he "will obey the law -- and only the law" and immediately grant the request of the council of ministers and summon a session of the legislative assembly."
The Governor said on Monday that Raj Bhavan never had an intention "not to call" the assembly session and has asked the Ashok Gehlot government to deliberate on three points including 21-day notice period for convening session and maintaining social distancing norms.
A Raj Bhavan release also referred to certain other conditions to be followed if Gehlot government, which is facing a crisis due to differences in the state Congress, wants to seek a trust vote.
The Raj Bhavan said a proposal was received from the state government to convene assembly session from July 31 and the Governor has said that the session should be called according to the constitutional provisions.
The release said that the statements from the state government make it clear that it wants to bring a trust vote but there is no mention of it in the proposal sent for convening the session.
It also said that if the state government wants to bring trust vote, there can be a basis to call the session at a short notice.
Earlier, Rajasthan Governor's Secretariat had said the state government had presented a proposal to convene the session of the Assembly at very short notice on the night of July 23. The paper was analysed and legal experts were consulted over it.
It had said 21-day notice is required for the session to be called according to the normal procedures.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the Congress party will approach the President and, if required, also stage a protest outside the Prime Minister's residence in connection with the political situation in Rajasthan.
He had earlier alleged that the Governor was not calling the Assembly session due to "pressure from the top".
Rajasthan Congress is in turmoil after simmering differences between Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was removed as the Deputy Chief Minister and the state unit chief of Congress.
The Congress has accused the BJP of indulging in horse-trading to bring down the Gehlot government. The BJP has rejected the allegations.