Cong MLAs holed up in Jaipur hotel, doors still open for Pilot
Jaipur/New Delhi: Congress MLAs on Monday holed themselves up in a resort near Jaipur after a legislature party meeting, where they expressed support for Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and only indirectly referred to Sachin Pilot, whose rebellion threatens his government.
A resolution adopted at the Congress Legislature Party meeting urged “strong disciplinary action” against any party office-bearer or CLP member who does anything to weaken the government or the party.
But the resolution stopped short of naming Pilot, who is the deputy chief minister and also heads the state unit of the party.
Before the meeting, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala also adopted a conciliatory tone, saying Pilot and other MLAs could still attend the CLP meeting from which they had distanced themselves.
Sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi were in touch with Pilot, upset since he was denied the Rajasthan chief minister’s post after the December 2018 assembly elections.
There was no official word on the number of MLAs who attended the meeting at Gehlot’s home, but party leaders claimed 106 legislators were there.
If correct, this staves off the immediate challenge posed by Pilot, who claimed on Sunday night that he has the support of over 30 of 107 Congress MLAs in the 200-member assembly. But at least seven MLAs considered close to Pilot were not spotted at the CM’s house.
Hours before the CLP meeting, Income Tax officials searched premises in Jaipur said to be linked to local party leaders Rajiv Arora and Dharmendra Rathore, an action critcised by the Congress.
The CLP resolution blamed the BJP for the crisis. On Saturday, Gehlot had accused the opposition party of trying to lure away Congress MLAs.
The resolution demanded strong disciplinary action against any Congress office bearer or CLP member who “directly or indirectly” acted against the party.
Addressing a press conference before the meeting, AICC spokesperson Randeep Surjewala indicated that Pilot and his supporters were still welcome to attend it. “Doors are open for Sachin Pilot and other MLAs,” he said.
He said the party’s top leadership spoke to Pilot several times in the last 72 hours.
Surjewala said differences in a family can be resolved within the family, suggesting that Pilot and other MLAs should come and discuss their grievances at party forums.
“When a member of the family gets annoyed, he does not make the family fall but sits with family members and resolves the issue,” he said.
“Doors are open for Sachin Pilot and other MLAs. They will be heard and solutions will be found. This is the discipline of the party,” the AICC spokesperson said.
In the 200-member assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs and the BJP 72. In the past, the ruling party has claimed the support of 13 independents, two MLAs each from the CPM and the Bharatiya Tribal Party, and one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The Congress had rushed Pande, Surjewala and Ajay Maken to Jaipur as observers at the meeting, amid a power tussle between its two Rajasthan leaders.
The party had issued a whip ahead of the CLP meeting, indicating disciplinary action against any MLA who failed to turn up.
In a statement, Pilot, however, had made clear that he would not attend the meeting. He also claimed that he had the support of over 30 Congress MLAs and some independents.
The current crisis began Friday night when the Rajasthan Police sent a notice to Pilot, asking him to record his statement over an alleged attempt to bring down the government.
The same notice was sent to the chief minister and some other MLAs, but Pilot’s supporters claimed that it was only meant to humiliate him.
The notices were sent after police tapped the phone conversation of two men allegedly talking about toppling the Congress government.
Rahul, Priyanka in touch with Pilot, trying to placate him: Sources
New Delhi: Top Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, are in touch with Sachin Pilot and are trying to placate him, a day after the Rajasthan Deputy CM declared open rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, sources said on Monday.
Pilot has claimed that the Ashok Gehlot government is in minority and that he has the support of over 30 MLAs in the 200-member Assembly.
According to sources, top Congress leaders have talked to Pilot and have asked him not to rebel against the chief minister. They also assured him that his grievances would be redressed at the party level.
Besides Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, other Congress leaders who are learnt to have spoken with Pilot are Ahmed Patel, former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.
It was not immediately known what transpired during the discussions.
Sources said the leaders asked Pilot to attend a Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur, but he has not given any assurance.
Pilot, who is in Delhi, has not been taking calls of many party leaders. AICC general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Avinash Pande has said that Pilot has not been responding to calls and messages have been left with him.
Pilot has raised a banner of revolt against Gehlot, after the special operations group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police sent a notice to him for appearing before it in the case involving “horse-trading” of MLAs in the state.
