Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghawal today categorically rejected Congress' demand to declare Vasundhara Raje government as "unconstitutional" saying there was no "validity" in it.
"I firmly accept the existence of the Rajasthan Government, Sanwar Lal Jat as respected member of the Cabinet, and reject the Opposition's question of validity or constitutional crisis", the Speaker said in his two pages ruling.
Opposition Congress made a baseless and illogical issue, he added.
As the House assembled after weekend at 11:00 hrs for budget presentation, Leader of Opposition Rameshwar Dudi and Deputy Whip Govind Singh objected the presence of BJP's ex MLA Sanwar Lal Jat in the House as a Cabinet minister, saying Jat has taken oath as MP of Lok Sabha recently and his presence in the Assembly leads to a constitutional crisis.
Quoting Congress' regime incidents when Shiv Charan Mathur was inducted into the Cabinet, Jagannath Paharia's induction as CM, and even Ashok Gehlot's move into the Assembly in the past, the Speaker said there was no violation of section 164 (4) of the Indian Constitution either earlier, or this time by the House.
The Congress members alleged that the Raje government was facing a constitutional crisis as it had less than 12 Cabinet ministers and demanded that it should not be allowed to work.
Yesterday, the Congress members led by former chief minister Ashok Gehlot have submitted a memorandum to this effect to the Governor Margret Alva demanding an action on the constitutional crisis.
