Ashok Gehlot vs Sachin Pilot: In a veiled attack on his former deputy Sachin Pilot, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today (May 11) said that those who create factions ("Thari-Mhari/ teri-meri karte hai") can never become successful and never be loyal to the party.
"Someone who speaks about 'apna-paraya' and creates factions can never be successful in life. There is a saying- draw a bigger line instead of erasing others' lines. That is what I have always done," CM Gehlot added.
The statement came on a day Pilot launched a 125-km-long "Jan Sangharsh Yatra" from Ajmer to Jaipur to raise the issue of corruption and the leaking of question papers for state government recruitment exams.
Pilot-Gehlot tussle:
Gehlot and Pilot have been at loggerheads over the chief minister's post ever since the Congress formed the government in Rajasthan in December 2018. Their simmering tussle for power came out in public in July 2020, when Pilot led a failed rebellion in the party for a change in leadership in the state.
The feud resurfaced in recent weeks after Pilot sat on a symbolic day-long dharna against the Gehlot government to press it to act in cases of alleged corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje Scindia dispensation.
"In a democracy, those who take everyone along become successful and those who create factions can never become successful," Gehlot said after inaugurating a statue of former Congress leader Pandit Nawal Kishore Sharma in Jaipur. "I have always tried in my life to take everyone along," he added.
Gehlot asserted that he has worked his entire life to uphold the party's principles and policies with allegiance, honesty, and commitment. He said he has worked to lengthen the line instead of shortening it.
"Those indulging in factionalism (Thari-Mhari karte hai) can never become successful. They are never loyal to the party. Loyalty is very important," he said.
Sachin Pilot 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra':
Dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot began a 125-km foot march from Ajmer to Jaipur on Thursday (May 11), challenging Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the party's top brass as assembly elections in Rajasthan approach. A month back, the former deputy chief minister had defied a warning from the party to hold a daylong fast targeting Gehlot on “inaction” over alleged corruption when the BJP was previously in power.
The just-begun five-day yatra mounts further pressure on the party leadership as it hopes to retain the state in the elections at the end of the year.
“I am taking out this yatra to raise my voice, to hear your voice, and to become the voice of the people,” Pilot, who was sacked as the state Congress chief in 2020 when he led a revolt against the CM, said at the start of the “padyatra”.
Referring to the scorching heat as “aag ka dariya”, he told his supporters, “This is a river of fire, we have to swim across it.” The Tonk MLA was welcomed by them when he reached Ajmer by train. He addressed a gathering on the Jaipur highway.
Thousands of party workers followed him as the yatra set off. Some held the tricolour and shouted slogans supporting him. Former minister Rajendra Chaudhary and local leader Mahendra Ralwata were present. But known dissident MLA kept away from Ajmer.
The 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' posters, displayed on some vehicles, had a picture of Pilot with a clenched fist, as well as photos of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Mahatma Gandhi, Bhimrao Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh also featured there.
Focus of Yatra:
Apart from corruption, the yatra focuses on cases of paper leaks in government recruitment exams. The Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) is based in Ajmer, which is also the constituency from where Pilot has been elected to Parliament in the past.
The Congress leader said his march is not against anyone but over issues. He questioned Gehlot’s reported claim that “no politician or official” was involved in paper leak cases, asking why no bulldozer was sent to the house of RPSC member Babulal Katara who was arrested in the case.
He said when a paper is leaked and cancelled, it creates distrust among lakhs of students and their parents in the system. Pilot reminded that the party had raised the issue of corruption during the last election in Rajasthan.
“We exposed the corruption during the (Vasundhara) Raje government. We demanded a CBI inquiry into the mines scam,” he said.“Our colleagues brought the Congress to power by shedding blood and sweat, and assured people that we will take action on coming to power,” he said at the public meeting. He said the party will win the Karnataka Assembly elections because it raised the corruption issue during the campaign. Pilot said he has been in politics for 23 years, his father was a Union minister and mother an MP, and not even opponents questioned their loyalty and integrity.
Govind Singh Dotasra on Pilot's 'pad yatra':
And Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra was dismissive of the Pilot’s yatra. "This is his personal yatra. This is not a Congress organisation yatra,” he told reporters who sought his response.
However, the issue is expected to come up at a meeting being taken by Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the Rajasthan in-charge at the All India Congress Committee (AICC), in Delhi on Friday (May 12). Dotasra and Rajasthan co-incharges Qazi Muhammad Nizamuddin, Amrita Dhawan and Virendra Rathore will take part in the meeting.
The march comes days after Gehlot accused the MLAs involved in the 2020 revolt of taking money from the BJP. Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs had then sought a leadership change in Rajasthan. He was sacked as the party's state unit president and the deputy chief minister.
The two Congress strongmen in Rajasthan have been at loggerheads over the post of chief minister ever since the party formed the government there in 2018. Pilot repeated that he had been writing to Gehlot for the past year and a half for action over corruption, but there has been no action.
Gehlot on Shanti Dhariwal:
Referring to his past differences with Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Gehlot said he had offered him a ministerial post when he became the chief minister in 1998.
"Be it anyone's man, I selected everyone at that time with a thought that he is a person from Congress, party high command and Sonia Gandhi. I respected and honoured everyone and progressed by winning the hearts of people," Gehlot said.
He also hit out at the BJP for doing politics over religion and said the real issues are inflation, unemployment, and not divisive politics.
(With agencies inputs)
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