We will fight unitedly against BJP and win in Rajasthan: Congress after Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot meet party chief Mallikarjun Kharge
The Congress on Monday seemed to have resolved the infighting in its Rajasthan unit with party general secretary KC Venugopal announcing that chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot had agreed to set their differences aside and fight unitedly against the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls.
Venugopal made the announcement after Gehlot and Pilot met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on Monday in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, seeking to resolve the power tussle that has been going on between the two Rajasthan leaders for nearly five years.
The meeting lasted nearly four hours.
“We have decided that both leaders (Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot) have agreed to go together. It will be a joint fight against the BJP, we will win the state (Rajasthan),” said Venugopal.
Gehlot and Pilot have been engaged in a power tussle since the Congress formed the government in the state in 2018. In 2020, Pilot led a failed revolt against the Gehlot government after which he was removed from the posts of party’s state unit president and deputy chief minister.
Pilot had last month defied a warning from the party and went ahead with a day-long fast targeting Gehlot over his “inaction” on alleged corruption during the previous Raje government.
The meeting on Monday came close on the heels of Pilot’s “ultimatum” that if three demands he made from the state government were not met by the end of this month, he would launch a state-wide agitation. Pilot has asked for a high-level inquiry into the alleged scams that took place during the tenure of the former CM Vasundhara Raje government, as one of his demands.
This was the first time after a long gap that the Rajasthan CM and his former deputy met face to face in the presence of top party leadership.
Sources said Gehlot met Kharge at his residence at around 6pm, a few minutes after which Gandhi also joined them. The Congress chief and Gandhi held deliberations with Gehlot for about half an hour, after which party’s in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Randhawa was called in.
Pilot joined the meeting after two hours at Kharge’s residence. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal was also present at the meeting.
Kharge and Gandhi are holding parleys with leaders of poll-bound states in order to evolve the party strategy for the assembly elections to corner the BJP in these states.
(With inputs from agencies)
