The MLAs event of resignation at Rajasthan

 

The MLAs event of resignation at Rajasthan

The MLAs who resigned are zero, the judiciary should send them to the public - Arvind Sisodia

The Constitution of India and traditional traditions tell that the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly does not have unlimited powers. The MLAs who voluntarily submitted their resignations three months back are automatically accepted with immediate effect. They have natural acceptance. They are relinquishment of office as per law, like relinquishment of legitimate rights, for which there is no constitutional provision for withdrawal.

In spite of all the details of the events of resignation being publicly published in the newspapers, none of the MLAs who resigned ever told that they had not tendered their resignations. Not even a single resignation MLA has denied that it is not his resignation. The Assembly Speaker himself never said that this MLA has refused his resignation.


It will be said that it is a misfortune of Indian democracy that even after the news of the resignation of 90 MLAs was published simultaneously in all the newspapers of Rajasthan, His Excellency the Governor did not ask the state government to prove its majority. Hon'ble High Court did not take suo motu cognizance. The truth is that the floor test of the Vidhan Sabha should have happened as soon as the news of his resignation came. The question is that the government which has lost its majority, how is it running the government?

The law in India also says that only desire is paramount. When you have resigned then what is the meaning of sticking to those chairs. The people's representative is the representative of the public, the public has never given him the right to be a part of the gimmick of any political party. The traditions of India and all democratic countries are saying that the MLAs who resign are no longer MLAs.

The silence of the Speaker and His Excellency the Governor for three months also confirms that the resignation from the House is accepted. There is no dispute left on them. That's why the Speaker of the Vidhansabha and no other law can make the MLAs who have resigned as members of the House again. Now it is mandatory for them to go to the elections to regain the trust of the public and get elected from there.

No political party can make the constitution a means of fulfilling its wishes, nor can it kill a "constitutional" law for its vested interests. The fact that this matter is under consideration of the Hon'ble High Court does not mean that the resignations will not be considered as resignations. Rather, resignation is resignation. They will be treated as resignation only. Just as a donor does not have any right on a donation after donation, in the same way, after resignation, any resignation provider does not have the right to take it back.

Just as a body cannot come back to life after suicide, similarly it cannot come back to life once it has resigned. That's why all the members who have resigned are no longer members of the House. 

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Congress: '90' Gehlot Loyalist MLAs Threaten to Quit Over Chance of Pilot Becoming CM
Sachin Pilot was slated to take over the CM's post with Gehlot emerging a frontrunner for taking up the Congress president's role.

Congress: '90' Gehlot Loyalist MLAs Threaten to Quit Over Chance of Pilot Becoming CM
Congress MLAs leave for the residence of Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi for a meeting, in Jaipur,

Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022.
New Delhi: The Congress in Rajasthan plunged into a crisis as around 90 MLAs loyal to current chief minister Ashok Gehlot submitted resignation letters over a possible move to appoint Sachin Pilot as the next chief minister, their rebellion erupting just ahead of a Congress Legislature Party meeting.


The loyalists visited Speaker C.P. Joshi after a long meeting in the evening at minister Shanti Dhariwal’s residence, saying they were resigning as MLAs.

This happened while at the chief minister’s home, Gehlot and Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken waited for all legislators to arrive for the CLP meeting. Pilot and his supporters were present at the meeting, but it was a washout.

Gehlot loyalists and some news reports have claimed that the number of MLAs who visited the Speaker was over 90. The Congress has 108 MLAs in the House of 200.

There was no word from the Speaker’s office on the resignation letters.

Gehlot, according to NDTV, told the party’s central leadership that this development was “not in his hands”.

“Nothing is in my hands. The MLAs are angry,” he said.

Efforts fail
Late on Sunday night, there were efforts by Kharge and Maken to persuade Gehlot loyalists to meet them one on one, if not as part of the planned MLAs’ meeting.

Ministers Shanti Dhariwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Mahesh Joshi, along with Gehlot’s advisor Sanyam Lodha met the AICC observers, but the standoff continued.

On their return, report said, they told the other loyalists that they had put forth some conditions:

They wanted the decision on the next CM to be left till after the Congress organisational election, and
Stressed that Gehlot should have a say in picking the new CM who should be someone who stood by the veteran leader during the rebellion by Pilot supporters in 2020.
Gehlot and Pilot had been at loggerheads over the chief minister’s post soon after the Congress won the assembly elections in December 2018. The high command then chose Gehlot as the chief minister for the third time while Pilot was made his deputy. In July 2020, Pilot along with 18 party MLAs, rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership, but the two appeared to resolve differences.

‘Take views of MLAs into account’

Around midnight, the loyalists began dispersing from Joshi’s home.

“We have submitted our resignation and are now going home. The MLAs want that any decision on the CM should be taken only after the election of the party’s national president,” minister Govind Ram Meghwal said.

The loyalists said the views of MLAs should be taken into account.

“Later, whatever decision taken by the high command will be accepted,”independent MLA Babulal Nagar said.

“If a decision is not taken keeping the MLAs’ sentiments in mind, the government will be in danger,” independent legislator and advisor to the chief minister Sanyam Lodha said.

The aborted CLP meeting was seen as crucial step ahead of Gehlot filing his nomination for the Congress president’s post, amid speculation that the former deputy chief minister Pilot will take his place in the state.

Gehlot, seen by many as a reluctant candidate for the top party position, initially appeared unwilling to give up his CM’s post. Later, it was speculated that he would rather see C.P. Joshi – or anyone else – as chief minister rather than Pilot, who had rebelled against his leadership.

Earlier in the day, Gehlot told reporters in Jaisalmer that the MLAs would pass a one-line resolution at the CLP meeting calling upon party president Sonia Gandhi to pick his successor.

But the MLAs appeared to have decided to go off script.