Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said that he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Governor Kalraj Mishra’s conduct during his efforts to restart the Assembly session, reported ANI.

Earlier in the day, Mishra had returned files related to a second proposal on convening an Assembly session to the state’s Parliamentary Affairs department, seeking additional information from the state government. The governor had last week rejected the state government’s first proposal to begin an Assembly session.

The Ashok Gehlot-led administration hopes to conduct a floor test amid an intra-party crisis, after Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot was sacked on July 14.

“Spoke to [the] prime minister yesterday [Sunday] over Governor’s conduct,” Gehlot told reporters, according to NDTV. “The governor has once again sent us a six-page love letter.” He further noted that governors are bound to assent when an elected government demands an Assembly session.

“PD Acharya has written an article in which it is said that this is the first time in 70 years when the Governor has refused to call the Assembly session,” Gehlot added.

The chief minister submitted a fresh proposal on Sunday, in which he said the session should be convened to discuss bills, including one related to the coronavirus pandemic. Gehlot wanted Mishra to start the session from July 31.

However, Mishra returned the second proposal on Monday and asked whether the state’s legislators could be given a three-week notice to attend the Assembly session, due to the coronavirus pandemic. He also asked whether Gehlor wanted a trust vote or not, since he had not mentioned it in his reasons to convene the Assembly. “Do you want to bring a confidence motion?” the governor asked Gehlot. “As it is not mentioned in the proposal but in public you are making statements that you want to bring a confidence motion.”

Gehlot had met the governor on July 24. Prior to the meeting, he told reporters that Mishra was under pressure “from above”, an indirect reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government. Mishra denied the allegations, but Congress workers began a protest outside Raj Bhavan, his residence, that day. The protest went on for several hours.

The Rajasthan crisis

The Congress government in Rajasthan has been on the brink of collapse ever since Pilot rebelled against 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 filings before the Rajasthan High Court, 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. They added that elected representatives of the people cannot be removed from his post on the whims and fancies of their party’s leadership.

The Congress has 107 MLAs in the Rajasthan Assembly – including six Bahujan Samaj Party turncoats – following Pilot’s revolt. The majority mark in the 200-member House is 101. On Sunday, the Bahujan Samaj Party issued a whip to its six MLAs to vote against the Congress in the event of a floor test.