Team News Riveting
New Delhi, May 29
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot on Monday met party Chief Mallikarjun Kharge to resolve the political crisis simmering following the difference between the two in the state.
Gehlot and Pilot have been engaged in a power tussle since the Congress returned to power in the state in 2018. In 2020, Pilot led a failed revolt against the Gehlot government. Subsequently, he was removed from the posts of party’s state unit President and also Deputy Chief Minister. Pilot had last month launched a fresh volley, defying a warning from the party and went ahead with a day-long fast targeting Gehlot over his “inaction” on alleged corruption during the previous Raje government.
Sources said while Gehlot met Kharge at his residence at around 6 pm and later, they were joined by former President Rahul Gandhi. The meeting continued for over 30 minutes, sources said, adding that the party in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Randhawa was later called in. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal was also present at the meeting, the sources said.
Pilot joined the meeting after two hours at Kharge’s residence. This is the first time after a long gap that the Rajasthan Chief Minister and his former deputy are meeting face to face in the presence of top party leadership.
Sources said Kharge and Gandhi were interacting with the leaders of poll-bound states in order to evolve the party strategy for the assembly elections. Besides Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will also go to the polls in November this year. to corner the BJP in these states. After discussions with top leaders from Madhya Pradesh in the morning, Gandhi said the party would win 150 seats in the state.
The situation in Rajasthan is however tense as the groupism has spilled out in open. Pilot has given ultimatum that if three demands he made from the state government were not met by the end of this month, he would launch a state-wide agitation.
Speaking to reporters earlier, Gehlot said there was no such tradition in the Congress to offer posts to any leader in order to pacify him.
