Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of conspiring to bring down the Rajasthan government amid the political tussle in the state and urged Governor Kalraj Mishra to convene an Assembly session at the earliest for a trust vote.

“The country is ruled by the constitution and laws,” Gandhi tweeted. “Governments are formed and run with a majority. BJP’s conspiracy to topple the Rajasthan government is very clear. This is an insult to eight crore people of the state. The governor should call for a session of the state’s Assembly so that the nation gets to know the truth.”

The Congress leader added the hashtag, “#ArrogantBJP” to his tweet.

Earlier in the day, party MLAs led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sat on a dharna outside Raj Bhawan for hours shouting slogans and ended the protest only after the governor assured them he will soon convene a session in the Rajasthan Assembly. Gehlot met the governor at least twice during the day seeking assurance that he will not succumb to “pressure from above” and take a decision on the matter in line with the Constitution of India. “If the governor does not call the Assembly session and the people from the entire state lay siege to the Raj Bhavan, we will not be responsible,” he had said.

On Thursday, Gehlot had said that the Assembly session would be called soon after meeting the governor. He also expressed confidence that his government will prove its majority.

What’s happened so far

The Congress government in Rajasthan has been on the brink of collapse since former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot rebelled against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and proceeded with a few MLAs to Delhi earlier this month. Pilot was sacked as the Rajasthan deputy chief minister and as the Congress’ state unit chief on July 14. The next day, Assembly Speaker CP Joshi sent disqualification notices to Pilot and 18 other legislators.

The notices were served after the MLAs defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings to resolve the political crisis in the state. However, the MLAs said that a party whip applies only when the Assembly is in session. In their petition, the legislators sought to quash the notices, arguing that they had neither given up their membership of the House nor did their failure to attend two Congress meetings make them liable for disqualification on the ground of defection. It added that an elected representative of the people cannot be removed from his post on the whims and fancies of his party’s leadership.

After the rebel MLAs approached the High Court, the Speaker was asked to defer action. Earlier on Friday, the Rajasthan High Court again asked Joshi to defer his action against the legislators till the final hearing. The court also accepted an application by Pilot and other rebel MLAs to make the Centre a party in their writ petition challenging the Assembly Speaker’s disqualification notices.

Before the political crisis erupted, the Congress had the backing of 125 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, including 107 of its own legislators. As many as 13 Independents and five MLAs from other parties support it. The majority mark in the Rajasthan Assembly is 101. The BJP has 72 legislators and has the support of three Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLAs.