Congress stages state-wide protest against BJP in Rajasthan

Congress workers on Saturday staged demonstrations at several places in Rajasthan against the BJP, accusing it of "conspiring" to topple the Ashok Gehlot government. The Congress had on Friday given the call for demonstrations in all district headquarters against the "conspiracy to murder democracy" and to press the governor for convening an Assembly session.

Jaipur:Scores of Congress workers held demonstrations against the BJP across the state on Saturday, accusing it of 'conspiring' to topple the Ashok Gehlot government and to press governor for convening an assembly session.

The Congress government is pushing for a session of the Assembly so that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot can prove his majority on the floor of the House after the Rajasthan High Court on Friday ordered that status quo should be maintained on the disqualification notices sent out by the Speaker to rebel leader Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs.

In Jaipur, the demonstration was held at the Youth Party Office, where nearly three weeks ago, the now sacked-Deputy Chief Minister Sachin pilot led a protest against the centre over the 'unprecedented' hike in petrol and diesel prices.

The protestors held banners showing pictures of Sachin Pilot which read,' Betrayed public in the greed of power', 'Tarnished the image of the party'. Some banners referring to BJP read, 'Stop buying leaders'.

Similar protest demonstrations were held elsewhere in the state.

This came amid a factional fight in the state Congress between camps led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot.

Rajasthan plunged into a political crisis after differences between Pilot and Gehlot came out in the open.

Pilot was removed as the deputy chief minister Rajasthan and as the state unit chief of the party on July 14. Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi sent disqualification notices to Pilot and 18 other legislators.