Gujarat govt seeks vote of confidence on Tuesday

A special meeting of the Gujarat cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela on Friday requested Governor Krishnapal Singh to summon the assembly on Tuesday to enable the chief minister to take a vote of confidence.

After the Congress withdrew its support to the Vaghela government on October 20, the chief minister had sought dissolution of the House and requested the governor to let his ministry continue as a caretaker government till the next election.

The governor had, however, rejected both his demand of dissolution of the House and the Congress demand for dismissal of the ministry. Instead, he asked Vaghela to prove his majority on the floor of the House on or before October 28.

Meanwhile, state Congress president C D Patel and Congress Legislative Party leader Amarsinh Chaudhary said they are not averse to continuing support to the Rashtriya Janata Party if Vaghela is changed as leader. Vaghela, who had accepted the Congress suggestion for change the RJP leadership, has not yet named his successor.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party state unit has leaked a letter submitted by Patel and Chaudhary to the governor while withdrawing support to the Vaghela ministry on October 20. The letter contains allegations of corruption by the Vaghela ministry during its one-year rule.

The letter said the state government had allotted 24 small power plants to different persons in violation of the law. Many of those allowed to run the small power stations lacked the experience, qualifications and resources to run power plants. Those 24 allottees of power stations, having a total capacity of 1200 MW, are assured purchase of power by the Gujarat Electricity Board at a price which is 2.5 times higher than the prevailing price of electricity.

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