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Nov 29, 2022

Show of Unity? Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot Appear Together Amidst Row

The Rajasthan chief minister said he agrees with Rahul Gandhi's statement that he and Sachin Pilot are both assets to the party.
Left to Right: Ashok Gehlot, Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Days after Ashok Gehlot called Sachin Pilot a traitor, the two leaders made a public appearance together as the Congress party makes efforts to present a united front with the Bharat Jodo Yatra set to enter Rajasthan soon.

On Monday, Rahul Gandhi called both Rajasthan chief minister Gehlot and his rival Pilot “assets to the party”. On Tuesday, Gehlot suggested that the matter should rest there.

“When Rahul Gandhi has said that our leaders are assets then we are assets… where is the dispute then,” Gehlot said when asked about the former party president’s observation.

Gehlot’s remarks were in sharp contrast to the interview he gave last week to NDTV, calling Pilot a gaddaar (traitor) for allegedly colluding with the BJP in 2020 to topple the Congress government. In response, Pilot said such “mud-slinging” would not help.

“This is the beauty of our party that after our top leader says anything, there is no scope (for further argument),” Gehlot told reporters in Jaipur before attending a party meeting to review preparations for the yatra.

Gehlot and Pilot greeted each other in the “war room” set up as the party prepares for the Bharat Jodo Yatra to enter Rajasthan. All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra were among the leaders who attended the meeting.

Venugopal, who accompanied Gehlot and Pilot during the press conference, said: “We are united. Here Ashokji and Sachin Pilotji have said that the Congress party in Rajasthan is united. Rahul Gandhi has clearly stated that both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are assets to the party,” he said, according to news agency ANI.

The CM said all leaders will work together to make the Bharat Jodo Yatra a success in the state.

“Rahul Gandhi also meant that every party worker is an asset,” he said.

Gehlot told reporters that the main issue before the party is the 2023 assembly election, and claimed that the mood is in the favour of the Congress.

“We will win the assembly elections. We have introduced several unique schemes and programmes which are benefitting people across the state. I get an overwhelming response from people when I go on visits. It means that the government is going to be repeated,” he said.

Pilot said the Bharat Jodo Yatra was getting huge support, and lakhs of people from all classes will associate with it in the state.

The yatra will enter Rajasthan in Jhalawar and will cut across the state in about 15 days. Ahead of this, Pilot’s supporters seemed to have renewed their demand to replace Gehlot with Pilot as the chief minister.

“The BJP is worried because of the yatra. There is great enthusiasm among people to welcome the yatra to Rajasthan,” the former deputy CM said.

Pilot was removed as the deputy and sacked as the state Congress president after the 2020 rebellion against Gehlot by a group of Congress MLAs led by him. Gehlot said the BJP is trying to provoke Congress to gain an advantage in the Gujarat assembly elections.

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