JAIPUR: The tussle between CM Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot came to the fore after Congress won two out of the three seats in the Rajya Sabha polls and the latter took a jibe at Gehlot without naming him, stating that the "horsetrading" allegations were proven baseless.
"Rajya Sabha elections are over the two candidates from our party got the votes according to the pre-estimated vote share from the MLA's of Congress party, supporting parties and Independent MLA's which I had already stated before the elections. This means that all the other talks made by anybody were completely baseless because we had the numbers and we got the vote according to those numbers itself so whatever was being said was irrelevant," Pilot said interacting with media persons at the state party office.
Before the polls on June 19, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot made a sudden move and had shifted all Congress and other ally MLAs to a private hotel in Jaipur.
He had alleged that BJP was plotting to break away some of their MLA's and luring them to cross vote against party candidate.
He also claimed that there were offers of up to 25 crore to the MLAs and handed over the investigation to ACB.
But the complainant, Mahesh Joshi, has not yet recorded his statement with the police and no MLAs have come forward to accept these claims.
After Congress' Rajya Sabha victory, Gehlot's political management has been appreciated and political analysts believe that despite the ongoing tension between him and Pilot, Congress would emerge out stronger.
It is also believed that many political appointments will get a green signal.
While briefing the media at state PCC office party president Pilot has clarified that all the political appointments will be decided by Congress President Sonia Gandhi's selected co-ordination committee.
He added that those party workers will be given preference who have worked hard for the last five years.