MLAs Under Pressure, Horse-Trading Done Openly: CM Ashok Gehlot

The Rajasthan CM said that the BJP had created a situation in the country where elected MLAs were under pressure.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

(File Photo: IANS)

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot alleged on Saturday, 14 March, that the BJP had created a situation in the country where elected MLAs were under pressure and horse-trading was being done openly.

To drive home his point, he said earlier, Congress MLAs from Maharashtra had to be shifted to Jaipur, party MLAs from Madhya Pradesh were currently here and now, the Gujarat lawmakers of the grand old party were coming to the state.

"It is a reflection of the situation created by the BJP that after Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, MLAs from Gujarat are coming here. The BJP has created an atmosphere of terror in the country," Gehlot told reporters outside a resort on the Jaipur-Delhi highway where the Madhya Pradesh MLAs have been lodged.

“Where is democracy in the country? Horse-trading is being done openly. Why do the MLAs from Gujarat want to come here...you can imagine... there is so much mental pressure. The entire country is watching this,” the veteran Congress leader said.

Congress MPs and MLAs from Madhya Pradesh were staying in two resorts on the highway in Jaipur since Wednesday amid a political crisis in their state and now, and several party MLAs from Gujarat were also shifted to the city on Saturday night due to the fear of cross-voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

Late in the night on Saturday, 14 March, Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Lalji Tandon, asked Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a floor test on Monday, 16 March, immediately after his address. The MLAs lodged in Jaipur are expected to make their way to Bhopal soon.

(With inputs from PTI)