‘Party discipline must’: Gehlot after Sachin Pilot calls PM Modi’s praise for Rajasthan CM ‘interesting’
The cinders of the recent Rajasthan Congress crisis seem to be lingering on, threatening to spark a flame, as party leader Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot embark on a fresh war, trading potshots. While Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising the CM was “interesting”, Gehlot fired back, asking Congress leaders to “maintain discipline” and refrain from making political statements.
In the morning, Pilot told mediapersons, “It’s interesting that the PM praised the CM yesterday. It must not be taken lightly. Because the PM similarly praised Gulam Nabi Azad in the Parliament and we all saw what happened.” He also urged the Congress high command to take action against those Rajasthan leaders who participated in a show of strength for Gehlot in September, boycotting a Congress legislature party meeting.
A few hours later, Gehlot reacted to Pilot’s statements, saying: “AICC general secretary KC Venugopal has asked [party leaders] not to put out statements. We, too, want all leaders to maintain discipline.”
“The party’s focus should be on retaining the government in Rajasthan. It is our objective to bring the Congress government back to power. We have given good governance and brought so many schemes into the state, which has never happened before. We have started working towards retaining the state on good governance,” he said.
With the two Congress heavyweights in Rajasthan at loggerheads, newly elected party president Mallikarjun Kharge faces an uphill task of preventing a rerun of the crisis that the party had to go through in September.
