JAIPUR: Rajasthan may well be going the Madhya Pradesh way with state Congress chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot revolting against party veteran and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
In a message to media, Pilot said he won’t attend the Congress Legislative Party meeting on Monday and that Gehlot’s has become a minority government. Pilot also claimed 30 MLAs support him.
Late-night reports suggested that he may meet BJP chief JP Nadda at 10:30 am on Monday but it could not be independently verified. According to sources, the trigger for the revolt is a police notice to Pilot on a case related to poaching of party MLAs to topple the state government.
Differences between the two leaders were brewing for some time but they reached a tipping point on Sunday with Pilot, along with a group of MLAs supporting him, rushed to Delhi to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
He reportedly could not meet her. Sources said Avinash Pandey, AICC general-secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, told Sonia there was no danger to the government.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi spoke to Pilot over phone and sent senior leaders Ajay Makan, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Avinash Pandey to Jaipur to meet Gehlot. “
There is no reason for the BJP to be happy. All Congress party is together...,” Surjewala told reporters after reaching Jaipur on Sunday night. The three leaders then went straight to the CM’s residence.
The political turmoil in Rajasthan, coming barely three months after the debacle of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh following Jyotiraditya Scindia’s dramatic switch-over to the BJP due to similar differences with senior party leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh, has left senior leaders worried.
“Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables,” Congress leader Kapil Sibal tweeted. According to party sources, the problem started during the Rajya Sabha elections last month when Gehlot claimed there were attempts to topple his government. The Congress won two seats and BJP, one.
Gehlot wanted a new state Congress chief
Pilot has been Rajashtan Congress chief for over 6 years, but Gehlot is pushing for a change. Under party Constitution, the Pradesh Congress Committee chief can hold the post for five years.