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  • Desert Storm: Sachin Pilot revolts, says Gehlot govt in minority; dy CM claims support of 30 MLAs
This story is from July 13, 2020

Desert Storm: Sachin Pilot revolts, says Gehlot govt in minority; dy CM claims support of 30 MLAs

Breaking his silence over the political crisis in Rajasthan triggered by the state police registering an FIR over an alleged plot to topple the government and a special police team calling deputy CM Sachin Pilot to join the investigation, Pilot released an official statement saying CM Ashok Gehlot had lost majority and claimed over 30 MLAs had pledged support to him.
Rajasthan political crisis: CM Ashok Gehlot and deputy CM Sachin Pilot headed for showdown
File photo
NEW DELHI: The leadership tussle between Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and deputy CM Sachin Pilot is headed for a showdown with Pilot claiming that the state government no longer enjoys a majority even as the Congress legislature party was scheduled to meet on Monday morning.
Breaking his silence over the political crisis in Rajasthan triggered by the state police registering an FIR over an alleged plot to topple the government and a special police team calling Pilot to join the investigation, the deputy CM released an official statement saying Gehlot had lost majority.
He claimed over 30 Congress and some Independent MLAs had pledged support to him.
Rajasthan political crisis: Live updates
Pilot's statement came even as he was in Delhi over the weekend and is learned to have met former Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia, who recently left the party to bring down the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. The political activity gathered pace with deepening speculation that BJP will support Pilot's rebellion even though the contours of the arrangement were not evident.
It now remains to be seen how many Congress MLAs show up at the CLP meeting on Monday and if Gehlot is able to rein in the flock.
Raj numbers


Gehlot has seemed determined to take the simmering feud with Pilot to the endgame stage after police arrested two BJP-linked men, filed an FIR about an alleged plot to topple the government and served a notice on Pilot to join the investigation. The formation of a special operations group, usually associated with anti-terror or anti-organised crime cases, to probe the matter was nothing less than a declaration of war.

Gehlot's "strike" at Pilot, virtually accusing him of plotting to topple him along with BJP, was seen as a preemptive hit or a move to underline Pilot's lack of options. Sources close to Pilot indicated he was not going to take things "lying down" and would reveal his hand on Monday.

The Congress legislature party meeting is scheduled at the chief minister’s residence in Jaipur at 10.30am on Monday. Gehlot initially called the meeting late on Sunday night but rescheduled it after the Congress central leadership directed general secretary in-charge of the state, Avinash Pande, CWC member Randeep Singh Surjewala and senior partyman Ajay Maken to reach the state capital to handle the crisis.
The meeting on Monday is intended to be a show of strength by Gehlot amid allegations that BJP was attempting to topple his government by indulging in horse-trading of MLAs. Amid reports that MLAs loyal to Pilot were camping in Delhi, three youngsters — Danish Abrar, Rohit Bohra and Chetan Dudi — returned to Jaipur and expressed faith in Gehlot’s leadership before the media on Sunday. There were reports of some MLAs being at a five-star resort in Manesar near Gurgaon.
"Animals and commodities get sold, not humans. We have faith in Gehlot’s leadership," said Dudi, the MLA from Deedwana (Nagaur). A day earlier, Gehlot had claimed that BJP was trying to buy MLAs like "goats in a mandi".
A few Congress MLAs, including G R Khatana (Bandikui), Rajendra Bidhuri (Begun), Rakesh Pareek (Masuda), Inder Raj Gurjar (Viratnagar) and P R Meena (Toda-Bhim), who too were said to be in Delhi, were untraceable till late on Sunday.
Despite the meeting being rescheduled, a majority of Congress MLAs and ministers continued to meet Gehlot expressing support.
The two businessmen with BJP links were picked up late on Friday night and arrested on Saturday on sedition charges for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to destabilise the government.
Gehlot tried to underplay the SOG notice by tweeting, "CM, deputy CM, chief whip, some other ministers and MLAs have received notices from SOG to record their statements in connection with Congress legislature party's complaint regarding horse-trading by BJP. It is not appropriate to present it differently by some media outlets." The Pilot camp scoffed at the claim, pointing out that the deputy CM was the real target.
Three Independent MLAs, who voted for Congress during the Rajya Sabha elections last month, were placed under the anti-corruption bureau scanner for allegedly attempting to indulge in horse-trading. Congress has turned away the three from its camp.
The CM's actions — he had alleged a BJP plot earlier too — are being keenly interpreted. Some feel that Gehlot has launched a preemptive strike before Pilot and BJP gather the critical mass required to unseat him. It is also felt that as the number gap between the government and opposition in Rajasthan is considerable, Gehlot is moving to corner a rival and underline his lack of options.
The sense of drift in the Congress high command in the midst of periodic calls for Rahul Gandhi to return as party president has only added to the crisis and is seen to be giving Gehlot the freedom to act against Pilot. The deputy CM's camp feels he has been abandoned after having acceded to Rahul's request to accept Gehlot as CM. The absence of Rahul at the centre and the interim nature of Sonia Gandhi's presidency, feel party sources, created a crisis.
Gehlot's camp, however, feels that numbers are not at risk and the CM is consolidating his leadership. They point out that Pilot has been a "restless" soul, unwilling to accept the party's decision and has been repeatedly acting to undermine Gehlot's authority. They said the CM could only countenance Pilot's taunts and criticism up to a point and will not live under threat of destabilisation if he could help it.
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