CHANDIGARH: Haryana's Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi on Monday urged the Congress leadership to do everything possible to persuade Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, saying his exit from the party will deal a severe blow to it.
The Congress in Rajasthan is witnessing a power tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot, upset since he was denied the the chief minister's post after the December 2018 assembly elections.
The current crisis began Friday night when the Rajasthan Police sent a notice to Pilot, asking him to record his statement over an alleged attempt to bring down the government.
The same notice was sent to the chief minister and some other MLAs, but Pilot's supporters claimed that it was only meant to humiliate him.
Commenting on the issue, 51-year-old Bishoni, who is the younger son of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, also batted for promoting young faces with a "mass base" to strengthen the party.
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Earlier, Bishnoi had described Jyotiraditya Scindia's exit from the party in March as a big blow and said there are many devoted leaders across the country who feel "alienated, wasted and discontented".
"My appeal to the Congress high command is that the way Jyotiraditya Scindia left the party, it caused a big loss to it. Now, we are hearing such rumours about Sachin Pilot. If these are rumours, then there is no problem, but if this is true, then the Congress should do everything to persuade him," Bishnoi said in a video message posted on his Twitter handle.
"Sachin is a tall leader. If he leaves, it will deal a severe blow to our party like the Scindia's exit," Bishnoi added.
He said the leaders with a mass base who understand today's politics should be entrusted with responsible positions like that of a general secretary and state unit chiefs.
Only then people's faith in the Congress will increase, he said.
However, Bishnoi in his video message appealed to Congress leaders not to feel disappointed while recounting the party's contribution to the freedom struggle and development of the country.
"People's faith in Congress is increasing day after day and the country also needs a Congress government because whenever the party-led governments were formed, the country progressed," he said.
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Addressing the Congress leaders as "colleagues", he said, "So, you don't have to feel disappointed."
All of us together have to bring back the Congress to power.
"The Congress is a strong party. I and my colleagues will put all our efforts to ensure that it comes to power" be it at the national level or in the states," he said.
Bishnoi, who is a four-time MLA, and has remained the Lok Sabha MP twice.
He had floated his own outfit the Haryana Janhit Congress over 10 years ago when the Congress high command picked Bhupinder Singh Hooda over Bhajan Lal for the chief minister's post in 2005.
In 2016, Bishnoi returned to the Congress and merged his party with the Congress.