The BJP on Monday accused the Congress of making Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra a scapegoat and demanded that chief minister Ashok Gehlot resign if he was unable to manage his government.

“The Congress has made the governor a political target to divert attention from its internal clash,” BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said. “If Ashok Gehlot is unable to manage the government, then he should resign,” Rao added, responding to the Congress’s allegation that the governor was delaying a floor test for the Gehlot government to prove its majority amid a rebellion led by sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and purportedly aided by the BJP.

BJP sources said the party wanted to keep prolonging the Rajasthan crisis and work from behind to further destabilise the government and target Gehlot.

Governor Mishra, who had been associated with the BJP for long and had been a minister in the first Modi government, has repeatedly set conditions for the Gehlot government to convene an Assembly session — the latest being on Monday when he conceded that securing a trust vote can be a reasonable ground for doing so on a short notice but pointing out that the revised cabinet recommendation does not mention it.

The Congress led by Gehlot, had last week held a protest at Raj Bhavan.

BJP managers see Rajasthan Speaker C.P. Joshi’s withdrawal of the petition from the Supreme Court against the high court’s decision to postpone the disqualification proceedings against 19 rebel Congress MLAs as a sign of confusion in the Congress camp.

The BJP managers said the coronavirus pandemic was a legitimate excuse to delay the Assembly session and hoped that the internal unrest in the Congress would worsen.

“Our plan is to tire out Ashok Gehlot. He is facing a two-pronged attack, from within and outside, and will crumble in the days to come,” a BJP leader said.

The BJP believes that if Gehlot is allowed to hold the Assembly session, he will ensure the disqualification of the rebel Congress MLAs, including Pilot, and prove his majority.

Internally, the BJP is confident that Gehlot will find it difficult to prove his majority if he seeks the confidence of the House without disqualifying the 19 rebels.

“Gehlot is planning to first get the rebels disqualified and then prove his majority. That will not be allowed,” a BJP MP from Rajasthan said.

The BJP managers also feel that with the crisis dragging on, the Gehlot government’s image among the people is taking a beating. With the chief minister’s attention being consumed by the efforts to save his government, governance is suffering, they believe.

Governor Mishra on Sunday tweeted a picture of the state’s chief secretary and police chief meeting him to inform him about security arrangements at the Raj Bhavan and added that he had given them directions to seriously handle the coronavirus crisis, appearing to suggest that he was in charge for all practical purposes at the moment.