Gehlot vs Pilot: Congress Tries To Downplay Tussle - 'Will Fight In Unity'

The Congress on Thursday said the party is supreme and will fight the Rajasthan Assembly polls unitedly to emerge victorious, an assertion that came a day after former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot refused to budge from his demands from the Ashok Gehlot government to act against corruption. Speaking in his Assembly constituency Tonk, Pilot on Wednesday said that action would have to be taken on the issues that he had raised, particularly on corruption in the previous BJP rule.

"As far as getting justice for the youth is concerned, I think there is no possibility of any compromise on it," Pilot had said, referring to exams for government jobs being cancelled after paper leaks. Asked about his remarks and the simmering tensions in the Rajasthan unit, Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "On May 29, the Congress president met Chief Minister Gehlot, Mr. Sachin Pilot in the presence of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, and general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and discussed all the issues at length."

They reaffirmed unity, solidarity, determination to fight the elections unitedly, he said. "We will come back in Rajasthan with a convincing mandate. Whatever was discussed on May 29 will be taken forward," Ramesh added. "We have seen what happened in Karnataka...We have seen the type of election campaign that the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) ran. I am sure the people of Rajasthan will give the same reply to the prime minister what the people of Karnataka gave to him," he said. "The party is supreme, we will fight this election unitedly and we will win," he said.

The infighting in the Congress' Rajasthan unit had escalated a few weeks back with Pilot demanding action by the state government against "corruption" during the previous Vasundhara Raje government. In a bid to defuse the tensions, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had held marathon discussions with Gehlot and Pilot separately on Monday, sources had said. They had later posed for photographs at Kharge's 10 Rajaji Marg residence. After the meetings, the party had said Chief Minister Gehlot and Pilot have agreed to fight the upcoming assembly elections unitedly and have left all issues to be resolved by the party high command.

Addressing reporters after the meeting earlier this week, Venugopal had said, "Both the leaders Ashok ji and Sachin ji agreed to the proposal on these things." Asked what proposal he was talking out, Venugopal had said, "Both have left it to the (party) high command." Sources close to Pilot said the demands that he has raised, especially with respect to the action against alleged corruption during the previous Raje government, remain unresolved. They had said Pilot was firm on his demands, and post-meeting if the Gehlot government does not act on them, he would continue to press for the causes he has taken up.

Gehlot and Pilot have been engaged in a power tussle since the Congress formed government in the state in 2018. In 2020, Pilot led a revolt against the Gehlot government after which he was removed from the posts of the party's state unit president and deputy chief minister. Last year, an attempt by the high command to effect a leadership change in Rajasthan had failed after Gehlot loyalists dug their heels in and did not allow a legislature party meeting to take place. 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 corru