Yet Another Crisis In Rajasthan Congress As Pilot Turns Up Heat On Gehlot Over Past 'Corruption' Cases

On Sunday (9 April), Sachin Pilot, the former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, launched an aggressive attack on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Pilot accused Gehlot of not taking any action against the corruption cases surrounding the Vasundhara Raje-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government that he has inherited.

He announced a day-long protest demanding swift actions on these cases.

Despite this, the Congress high command emphasised the importance of a unified state unit and said the party will be seeking a mandate in Rajasthan later this year.

In their statement, the party highlighted the achievements of the Gehlot government and their collective efforts while ignoring Pilot's allegations.

Pilot held a press conference in Jaipur where he played video clips of Gehlot's statements on BJP's corruption and said he was worried about the absence of action. He mentioned that he had written two letters to Gehlot last year, which remained unanswered.

He called the lack of action "vichitra" or bizarre and suggested that Gehlot needs to act decisively to dispel the perception of collusion between him and Raje.

To call for action in corruption cases, Pilot has announced a day-long dharna on 11 April at Jaipur's Shaheed Smarak.

The protest will coincide with the birth anniversary of Jyotirao Phule, a social reformer who strongly believed in bringing change to society.

Pilot believes that corruption is a pressing issue that significantly affects the public, and sitting in protest on Phule's Jayanti is a meaningful way to bring attention to this issue. District administration has been notified of this protest.

Earlier in the year, Pilot had questioned the party leadership about the "inordinate delay" in taking disciplinary action against those who defied Sonia Gandhi last year when she was president.

He was alluding to the show cause notices served to three MLAs close to Gehlot for convening a separate meeting alongside the Congress Legislative Party session in September 2022.

The notices were issued on grounds of indiscipline, yet the All India Congress Committee had not acted on them.

Pilot had said then that the party needs to take decisions about the Congress in Rajasthan as elections are approaching later this year.