'False news': Sachin Pilot on reports of bringing Rajasthan Congress MLAs together
JAIPUR: Congress leader Sachin Pilot has denied media reports stating that he told the party high command that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot should not remain in office if he decides to contest the party presidential poll.
It was earlier reported quoting the sources that Pilot had told the high command that it is his responsibility to bring the MLAs together.
"Congress MLA Sachin Pilot has told the Congress high command that Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot should not remain CM if he decides to contest for the party president post & that it is his (Pilot's) responsibility to bring MLAs together," the sources had said.
Refuting the reports, the Congress leader said that says he has spoken neither with the party's high command nor with Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.
"Am afraid this is false news being reported"," he tweeted.
Notably, Pilot is being seen as the successor of Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan which is engulfed by a political crisis triggered apparently by Gehlot agreeing to file his nomination in the Congress presidential polls and wanting a successor of his choice as CM in Rajasthan.
Gehlot loyalists had submitted resignation letters to Assembly Speaker C P Joshi on Sunday evening, in an apparent bid to put pressure on the central leadership to pick someone from the Gehlot camp as CM if the veteran leader is elected the party president.
The loyalist MLAs indicated that they were against the appointment of Sachin Pilot, who led a rebellion against Gehlot in 2020, to the post.
With party observers slamming the actions of loyalists of Chief Minister Gehlot, sources said the decision on issuing show cause notices to miffed MLAs, who have been vocal in public, will be taken after interim party chief Sonia Gandhi looks into the report by the observers sent to the state.
"Status-quo to be maintained till Congress president election nominations, sources said.
Sonia Gandhi is reportedly "upset" over the Rajasthan developments as Gehlot was being considered as her successor for the top post.
On Monday, Gehlot loyalist Dhariwal accused Maken, AICC in-charge for Rajasthan, of being involved in a conspiracy to remove Gehlot as chief minister and alleged he was canvassing for Pilot.
Both Gehlot and Pilot spent the day at their Jaipur homes.
Pilot met his supporters, but they refrained from publicly commenting on Sunday's developments.
Sources said Gehlot told the two observers that he is not behind the Jaipur development and the MLAs involved in it were not listening to him.
But the drama has put a question mark on whether Gehlot would still run for the party president's post or someone else would replace him as a candidate supported by the current leadership.
The political drama in Rajasthan has made the Congress leadership think about a plan B for the top party post. Time is running out as the election process has started and September 30 is the last day of nomination.
The Congress has 108 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)