Pilot meets Gehlot after a month, handshake at CLP meeting signals his return

Party sources said the meeting would be attended by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and other dissident MLAs.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot along with senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot flashes victory signs during the party MLAs meeting at CM residence in Jaipur on Thursday. (Photo | PTI)

JAIPUR: Sachin Pilot met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Thursday, the first time after he openly rebelled against the senior leader a month back.

Party leaders K C Venugopal, Avinash Pande, Randeep Surjewala, Ajay Maken and Govind Singh Dotasra were also there at the meeting, posing together for the cameras at Gehlot's official residence.

Pilot and Gehlot shook hands in a moment marking the return of the sacked deputy chief minister and 18 other dissident MLAs to the party-fold, after the intervention earlier this week by the top Congress leadership in Delhi.

Their meeting was followed by the Congress Legislature Party meeting, ahead of Friday's assembly session.

The Congress has also revoked the suspension of MLAs Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh, who were suspended from the party's primary membership last month over their alleged involvement in a "conspiracy" to topple the Congress government in the state.

Exactly a month after he boiled away from Jaipur, #SachinPilot met up his chief and arch rival #AshokGehlot at CMR in Jaipur. There were smiles as both met and shook hands warmly to present a united face leaving behind the bitterness of past one month.@NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/85GA10S56R

— rajesh asnani (@asnaniraajesh) August 13, 2020

The assembly session in the state will begin on Friday.

The BJP in Rajasthan earlier on Thursday said it will move a no-confidence motion against the Gehlot-led Congress government in the state assembly.

The Congress has 107 MLAs in the 200-member assembly, and the BJP 72.