The ongoing political drama in Rajasthan is a fight for numbers. Both Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot claiming to have enough to be in the top seat.
But how do the numbers stand in the 200 seat Rajasthan Assembly. Congress (along with the 6 BSP MLAs that merged into the party) have a tally of 107. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) with a pre-poll alliance with Congress has 1 seat. BJP has 72 seats and its ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) has 3 seats. The CPI (M) has 2, BTP has 2, while there are 13 independents in the house.
Sangeeta P
The magical number needed to form a government is 101. Congress along with RLD and independents has a total tally of 120. BJP and its ally RLP take their cumulative tally to 75.
Sachin Pilot is claiming that he has the support of 30 MLAs and if they resign then it leaves the house with 170 members bringing the number required for majority to 86.
So for the Congress once their number reduces by 30 they reach 77 which is 9 short of majority. On the other hand BJP and RLP have 75 seats which is 11 short of majority. With the BTP deciding to abstain from supporting anyone, the onus of providing the required numbers to attain the majority falls on independents. They are largely with the Congress.
If one takes a look at the numbers from the recently concluded Rajya Sabha polls - Congress had got 123 votes. This is when two of its MLAs had not voted due to being hospitalized. On the other hand, BJP had got 74 votes as one of its votes had been rejected.
