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Gehlot vs Pilot: Congress gets back to the resort politics- Is the party losing Rajasthan?

By alagu, 13 July, 2020
India, Rajasthan, Congress, BJP, Politics

The deepening tensions in Rajasthan between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy turned rival Sachin Pilot have driven the MLAs of the Gehlot's camp to the resort in Jaipur, proving that the resort drama and the intra-political war will be never-ending in Congress and the states ruled by the party.

Following Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, Congress rule in Rajasthan is on the verge as the existing dissents between Gehlot and Pilot have now piloted and burst the rebellion within the party after Pilot raised the banner of revolt over the recent notice and summon of what he strongly considered as an affront triggered by Chief Minister Gehlot. 

After Sachin Pilot, whom Gehlot considers as a potential successor in next elections, received a summon from the state police, under Gehlot's leadership, to record his statements in connection to the arrest of the two BJP leaders for their alleged attempt to topple the Congress government in the state, he skipped the cabinet meeting convened by Gehlot on Saturday and drove to Delhi to apprise the Congress leadership on his growing discomfiture with Ashok Gehlot and to ask the leadership to intervene in the matter.

As he signaled his revolt against the current government, the Congress is troubled to achieve the consensus between the factions to ensure that Rajasthan won't go in the way of Madhya Pradesh, where Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia toppled Kamal Nath led Congress government and brought BJP back to power in March. To refrain any such aberrant events which would offer a prospect to BJP, the Congress party said that it has been speaking with the two factions to resolve the issues and defuse the intra-party tensions and revolts.

After Sachin drove to Delhi and met with Ahmed Patel on Sunday, Rajasthan Congress party in-charge Avinash Pande said on Sunday that the party has issued a whip to all the party MLAs to present at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to be held on Monday in Jaipur. Pande confidently asserted that the Chief Minister led government will survive the majority mark and 109 MLAs have signed a letter expressing their trust and support to Gehlot's government.

Avinash Pande further stated that the lawmakers who skip the CLP meeting without a valid reason will ought to face strict disciplinary action. According to the reports, the CLP meeting has held in the residence of Ashok Gehlot in Jaipur and the meeting was attended by 107 Congress MLAs and as expected, Sachin Pilot and his supporters didn't turn to the meeting and the revolted leader directly declared the current Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot as a minority government. 

 

During the meeting on Monday, the CLP has passed a resolution against the BJP and stated that it strongly condemns the attempts to kill democracy. The meeting noted that people behind anti-party acts should be punished for maligning the party's image. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has shown that he has the majority numbers of the lawmakers as 107 MLAs stood with him in the meeting. After the conclusion of the meeting, all the hundred legislators ferried on buses and taken to the resort in Jaipur as the party has gone into resort politics.

According to the reports, the legislators were put in four buses that were parked outside Gehlot's residence and drove to the Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur with the view of avoiding the horse-trading. The legislators posed the victory symbol when they boarded the bus and Ashok Gehlot has also boarded the bus and left a broad smile in the meeting as his leadership was endorsed by the legislators. 

Amid the escalating tensions, the Central Congress party has sent leaders Randeep Surjewala and Ajay Maken to Jaipur and the duo arrived on Monday to resort the revolts. While speaking to the reports ahead of the CLP meeting, Surjewala said that the doors are open to Sachin Pilot and other dissented MLAs and he further said, "I want to clearly state that Congress govt is stable in Rajasthan and we will complete the full term. No amount of conspiracy by BJP will be successful in toppling our govt in the state". 

By appealing to all Congress MLAs to lead a stable government in Rajasthan, Surjewala said that 'the party has spoken to a number of times about the present political situation to Sachin Pilot over the last 48 hours'.   According to the reports, Pilot has on Sunday said that he has the support of 30 MLAs and declared Gehlot's government as the minority. 

 

Following his furor-ic statement, Gehlot was pushed to convene the CLP meeting to ensure that he has enough numbers, and to sustain that, he has moved the legislators to the resort in Jaipur. It was strongly speculated that Sachin Pilot will join BJP and topple the Congress government. However, ANI reported quoting the sources which said he won't join BJP as most of his supporters are against the saffron camp and he might float a new party by quitting the Congress. On Monday, BJP leader Uma Bharti directly accused Rahul Gandhi of what has happened for Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Must-read: Gehlot vs Pilot- Congress rules and topples itself! How the party is going to save Jaipur?

 

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