Congress leader Sachin Pilot has reignited a war with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot months before the assembly election in the western state. The former deputy chief minister on Sunday said he will sit on a day-long fast demanding action against alleged corruption in the previous BJP government.
Pilot said he and other party leaders had raised the issue of corruption by the then Vasundhara Raje-led government when the Congress was in Opposition. They had promised to take action after the grand old party is voted to power.
Pilot accused the Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan saying they failed to act against the excise mafia, illegal mining, land encroachment or the Lalit Modi affidavit case. "No action was taken and to press for the demand, I will observe a day-long fast at Shaheed Smarak on April 11," Pilot told reporters at a press conference.
Advertisement
"We cannot go into the elections with these promises unfulfilled. We have evidence. We should have acted. We should investigate. We are going into elections. The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect soon. We are answerable to the people," Pilot was quoted as saying in an NDTV report.
He said he has apprised the district administration about his plans.
Pilot’s latest charges have brought back the fault lines between the two ‘frenemies’ to the fore.
Last year, CM Gehlot had called his fellow Congress leader a “gaddar” (traitor) but they both appeared together and stood next to each other ahead of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in a show of unity.
Advertisement
The tussle between Rajasthan Chief Minister and fellow Congress leader Sachin Pilot is rooted in Pilot's rebellion in 2020 when he used to hold the position of deputy chief minister as well as Rajasthan Congress chief. Pilot rebelled along with his loyalist MLAs and camped out of state. The rebellion, however, failed and he eventually returned to the Congress folds but he was removed as the Deputy CM and state party chief.
During this period, Gehlot had lashed out sharply at Pilot and called him "nikamma" (worthless) and "naakaara" (useless).
Even after the rebellion was over, the tussle between the two leaders continued and Gehlot has on several occasions expressed his displeasure regarding Pilot publicly.
(With PTI inputs)
