JAIPUR: Rajasthan’s former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress member Sachin Pilot Wednesday questioned the party leadership’s ‘inordinate delay’ in initiating action against the leaders who had ‘defied’ then president Sonia Gandhi by not letting a legislature party take place on September 25 last year, and demanded for a speedy action on the rebellion.
Pilot’s name was to be proposed as the state chief minister in that party meeting but it was averted by the rebel MLAs. Ministers Shanti Dhariwal, Mahesh Joshi and RTDC Chairman Dharmendra Rathore were said to have played a major role behind the act.
It is notable that recently the Speaker of the Assembly CP Joshi had replied in the high court on the issue of resignation of 81 MLAs that since these resignations were not given voluntarily, they were not accepted. Since then, the Pilot group has been raising the demand for an inquiry in front of the top leadership in this regard that under whose pressure the resignations of the MLAs were given on the night of September 25.
Referring to the show cause notices issued more than four months ago to three leaders considered close to CM Ashok Gehlot for holding a parallel gathering to the CLP meeting, Pilot said the AICC disciplinary committee under A K Antony, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the leadership can best answer as to why there has been an “unprecedented delay” in a dec sion on the matter.
Pilot remarked,“Whatever decisions have to be taken about the Congress party in Rajasthan, it should be taken soon as we are looking at polls at the end of the year.” Pilot also pointed out that PM Narendra Modi is already campaigning in Rajasthan. Congress will have to mobilize ground workers to be ready for the fight.