Jaipur: BSP Supremo Mayawati directed their six MLAs in the Rajasthan to vote against the Congress, whenever the floor test takes in the Assembly. Mayawati issued a Whip to all its six MLAs to vote against the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the time of floor test.

All the six Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) MLAs had merged with the Congress, which could lead to a tangle of technicalities as according to this definition, there are no BSP MLAs in the Rajasthan assembly. Chief Minister Gehlot has been struggling to keep his government afloat after a rebellion by Sachin Pilot and MLAs loyal to him.

Uttar Pradesh former Chief Minister Mayawati had approached the Election Commission to consider these six MLAs as BSP MLAs during the Rajya Sabha polls, but the Election Commission had refused to intervene in that as it’s the Speaker’s domain. On Sunday late night BSP issued the whip to R Gudha, Lakhan Singh, Deep Chand, JS Awana, Sandeep Kumar and Wajib Ali.

“Notices have been issued to the six MLAs separately as well as collectively, stating that since BSP is a national party, there cannot be any merger at the state level at the instance of the six MLAs, unless there is a merger of the BSP at the national level. If they violate it, they will be disqualified”, said BSP Sources.

Winning a trust vote will give the Ashok Gehlot government a respite for the next six months. But if a trust vote is held now, when the 19 rebels are yet to be disqualified, the rebels can vote against their own party. Even if they get disqualified later, their vote will count. In Rajasthan Assembly BJP has 76 MLAs out of 200-member and to form government, the party will need the support of at least 25 more MLAs. But the BJP is looking at an additional 10 MLAs as a buffer.

Today, the Supreme Court is expected to examine the issue of the powers of assembly speakers and whether courts have a say in their decisions.