Rajasthan party pulls support from Congress, but MLAs back Gehlot

Jaipur, July 13: The Bharatiya Tribal Party has withdrawn support from the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan as the ruling Congress stands on the brink of a split in the state with Sachin Pilot's open rebellion.

Mahesh Bhai Vasava, the chief of the Bharatiya Tribal Party, has written to his MLAs saying his party will remain neutral in case of a floor test in the assembly. The MLAs have been asked to skip any floor test altogether.

However, in a twist the two legislators of the party have backed Ashok Gehlot for now.

"All I know is that Bharatiya Tribal Party's MLAs are with us. Both the MLAs are supporting the Congress party. They were present at the legislative party meeting earlier today and they are present here as well": Chetan Dudi, Secretary, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee.

The Gehlot camp sounded confident about the stability of the government. A large number of Congress and other legislators supporting the government met with Gehlot at his residence. There is no danger to the government. All MLAs are with us, Ashok Chandana, a close aide of Gehlot said.

In the 200 member assembly, the Congress has the support of 125 MLAs including 107 of its own legislators. The party has the backing of 13 independents and 5 from other parties. In the house where the majority mark is 101, the BJP has 72 legislators and also the support of three Hanuman Beniwal Rashtriya Loktantrik Party.