Gehlot camp MLAs performing yoga, getting cooking tips at 5-star hotel

From performing yoga to getting cooking tips, Rajasthan Congress MLAs of Ashok Gehlot camp are engaging themselves in various activities in a five-star hotel on the Delhi Highway where they have been staying since Monday amid the political crisis in the state.

In many photos and videos doing the rounds on social media, some of the legislators are seen doing yoga in the hotel lawn, crowding around a chef cooking food, watching movies, playing carrom and celebrating the birthday of an MLA.

In a video, mostly women legislators including minister Mamta Bhupesh and Olympian Krishna Poonia are seen among others crowding around a chef.

Taking a dig at the Congress, the BJP accusing the Rajasthan ruling party legislators of violating social distancing norms and other Covid-19 protocols which the government directs people to follow strictly but are violated when it comes to its MLAs.

"The MLAs are seen without wearing face masks and not following social distancing norms. The government is not allowing the gathering of more than 50 people in view of the coronavirus pandemic but no such rule is followed here," BJP state president Satish Poonia said.

"There is no governance in the state now. People are looking at the ministers (for relief), but they are busy in the luxury hotel," he said.

The MLAs were shifted to the five-star hotel on the Delhi Highway in Jaipur following a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party at chief minister's residence on Monday.

Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs supporting have rebelled against the Ashok Gehlot government.

The Congress has sacked Pilot, Vishvenda Singh and Ramesh Meena from the Gehlot cabinet and suspended the party membership of two MLAs -- Vishvendra Singh and Bhanwarlal Sharma -- for their alleged involvement in the "conspiracy to topple the government".

After notices of disqualification were issued to them by the Assembly speaker on the basis of a complaint by government chief whip Mahesh Joshi, 19 MLAs, including Pilot, moved a writ petition in the high court challenging the notices.

Pilot and the Congress dissidents have got a four-day reprieve from any action by Rajasthan Speaker on the disqualification notices served on them, as the high court on Friday extended the hearing into their petition to the next week.

The Rajasthan High Court will resume the hearing at 10 am on Monday and Speaker C P Joshi will not take any action on the disqualification notices till 5.30 pm on Tuesday.

Speaker C P Joshi had written to the court that he will not act on the notices till 5 pm on Friday, by when the court proceedings were earlier expected to be over.

His counsel agreed to extend this breather to 5.30 pm on Tuesday as the division bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta had not delivered its order by that time.

An assembly statement said this was mutually agreed by both sides.