Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday once again tried to dismiss apprehensions over infighting in the party but admitted that he felt “sad and hurt” after Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot described him as a “gaddar” (traitor) recently.
“Yes, I am a politician. But I am also a human being. I did feel sad and hurt. I don’t want to go into the past,” Pilot told NDTV in an interview.
He, however, said “you have to move on”, adding that he has a mission at hand.
On Sunday as well, Pilot ruled out apprehensions that the infighting may affect the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan and added that the party’s state unit is “fully united”.
The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister also slammed the BJP for taking potshots at the Congress over his differences with Gehlot, saying that “sounds rich” coming from the BJP which has at least a dozen claimants for the post of chief minister.
“There is so much disunity in the BJP. They have not even been able to establish themselves as a proper opposition in the last four years in Rajasthan,” Pilot told PTI in an interview on a day the Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Rajasthan.
Asked about apprehensions about the yatra’s fate in Rajasthan following the events leading up to it with Gehlot attacking him in an interview with NDTV, Pilot dismissed the apprehensions as “stories put out in the media”.
His remarks come days after a major row erupted following Gehlot’s remarks that Pilot is a “gaddar” and cannot replace him. The remarks drew a sharp response from Pilot who had said it was unbecoming of Gehlot’s stature to use that kind of language and that such “mud-slinging” would not help at a time the focus should be on the yatra.
The escalation of the Gehlot-Pilot rift just ahead of the entry of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ into the desert state had put the party in a spot but KC Venugopal’s, Congress committee general secretary (organisation), visit to the state last week calmed tempers and in a show of unity both Pilot and Gehlot posed for the cameras along with the AICC general secretary.
