JAIPUR: Dharmendra Rathore, one of three Ashok Gehlot loyalists issued notice by the Congress, on Thursday hit back at his rivals in the party, accusing Rajasthan minister Ved Prakash Solanki of helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of winning the zila pramukh elections in 2021.
At a Press conference in Jaipur minutes before Ashok Gehlot walked into Sonia Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence for his meeting in Delhi, Rathore mounted a sharp attack on Solanki, a Sachin Pilot loyalist, in response to barbs thrown at him by Solanki who called Rathore a traitor.
“I will provide proof on who is a traitor and who is loyal,” said Rathore in his comeback. “It will come before everyone. Solanki had met BJP president Satish Poonia at a hotel during zila parishad election,” Rathore said. He also showed a video in which he said, Solanki and Satish Poonia were seen entering a hotel and exiting a hotel room one after the other. Rathore alleged that the two met to discuss the support of Congress members to BJP candidates during zila parishad elections.
Rajasthan minister Govind Ram Meghwal, who was in-charge for zila parishad election held in 2021 and was present at Rathore’s press conference, claimed that he had also complained about MLA Solanki but Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken did not act on it.
Dausa MLA Murari Lal Meena also targeted health minister Parsadi Lal Meena, accusing him of using unparliamentary language for the MLAs who sided with the then deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot in 2020 when he rebelled against Gehlot. “The way ‘traitor’ and unparliamentary language is being used for us, it is bad,” the Dausa MLA said.
He said the MLAs with Pilot stayed in Delhi for a month in 2020, but did not say a single word about the Congress high command.
“We can sit at home, but cannot go with the BJP. We are sad that the word traitor is being used for us, but now it should be told who is betraying the high command?” Murari Lal Meena said.
(With PTI inputs)
