Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday described senior Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot as a ‘Gaddar’ (traitor) to the party and said he cannot be made the chief minister.
Pilot on Thursday participated in Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi to which Gehlot told NDTV: “A gaddar cannot be made the CM. The high command cannot make Pilot the CM…a man who doesn’t have 10 MLAs. Who revolted and betrayed the party.”
Also Read: Priyanka Gandhi, Sachin Pilot join Rahul-led Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh
His statement comes amid the rising pitch of MLAs considered close to Pilot, demanding to make him the CM, before the Congress high command a few days after Ajay Maken resigned as in-charge of Rajasthan Congress expressing his “disappointment” at the Congress Legislature Party (CPL) meeting after Gehlot at the last minute refused to give up the post to contest the Congress president’s election.
At that time, Maken failed to convene a meeting of MLAs to pass a one-line resolution to authorise the Congress president to appoint a new leader in Rajasthan.
On over 90 MLAs boycotting the CLP meeting in September, Gehlot said, “It wasn’t a rebellion. It was in a way (a reaction)…as for 34 days, the MLAs stayed in the hotel during the 2020 political crisis in Rajasthan. They were those who stayed with the government and saved the government from toppling. They are the loyalist of high command.”
He refuted the claims that the MLAs boycotted the CLP on his directions.
“This party (Congress) has given me so much in 50 years from making me five times MP, three times union minister, three times All Indian Congres Committee (AICC) general secretary, state party chief, and three times the chief minister. What was the need for me to do so? If any MLAs say, then I will leave the post,” Gehlot added.
Asked about why his own party’s MLAs were upset with him, Gehlot said, “The MLAs got angry as the news spread that Pilot will be made the CM. He (Pilot) himself propagated this and even called many MLAs saying that the observers are coming. In this illusion, people thought he was going to be the CM…this upset the MLAs. But how can he be the CM after trying to bring down his own government?”
When asked if he had the same opinion, Gehlot said, “I agree how can a gaddar be made the CM?” He added that it has never happened in history that a party chief himself tries to topple the government.
In July 2020, Pilot along with 18 other MLAs, which included three ministers, rebelled against the Gehlot leadership. He was thereafter, removed from the post of state party chief and also, from the post of deputy chief minister.
Gehlot also alleged, “Union ministers Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan were involved in planning to topple the Rajasthan government. They (Pilot included) had a meeting in Delhi.”
“The MLAs who sided with them got ₹5 crores, some even ₹10 crore. In fact, the money was picked up from the BJP office in Delhi. I have the proof,” Gehlot alleged. BJP refuted the allegations and called them baseless.
On the question of the Gehlot camp not accepting Pilot, he said, “How will they accept the man who has committed betrayal? Our MLAs and I myself have suffered because of him.”
When asked of continuing as the CM, he said, “Today I am the only one here.” On the question of any indication from the high command, he said, “I do not have any indication. I am with the high command.”
Refuting any claims of the ongoing crisis in Rajasthan, Gehlot said, “there is no tension or crisis, it is all created by the media.”
On September 25, over 90 MLAs submitted their resignation to the assembly speaker, opposing the CLP meeting called to determine Gehlot’s successor as the chief minister, as he was the frontrunner for the post of Congress president.
