Amidst heightened speculation over the stability of his government, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has called a meeting of Congress MLAs, as well as of other legislators supporting his government, for Monday morning.
The meeting should make clear how many MLAs support Gehlot at a time when Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has raised the banner of revolt, having landed in Delhi with a clutch of legislators loyal to him. It will be keenly watched whether Pilot and the MLAs supporting him will attend the meeting.
The Congress high command has despatched leaders Ajay Maken and Randeep Surjewala to Jaipur to serve as central observers at tomorrow's CLP meeting, which will be held at Gehlot's official residence at 10:30 am. Avinash Pande, AICC General Secretary in charge of party affairs in Rajasthan, will also be in Jaipur.
Gehlot had earlier called for a meeting at his residence on Sunday night itself, scheduled for 9pm.
Meanwhile, three Congress MLAs who had left for Delhi and who were speculated as having been in Pilot's camp, Rohit Bohra, Danish Abrar and Chetan Dudi, gave a statement outside of Gehlot's residence on Sunday evening saying they would toe the party line.
"We are with the Congress Party which gave us tickets. The media trial, which is going on, has no sense. We are soldiers of the party and will remain so for lifetime," Bohra said, PTI reported.
"I have been going to Delhi since childhood. Visiting Delhi is a normal affair but this time, it was made special, Danish Abrar said. "We are soldiers of the Congress Party at any cost," he said.
Chetan Dudi said they have full faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
After Gehlot's press conference in Jaipur yesterday, where he alleged that the BJP was trying to lure MLAs of the ruling side and destabilise his government, Pilot is learnt to have left for Delhi along with MLAs supporting him. It is learnt that around 20 MLAs loyal to him were with him in the national capital.
Why is Sachin Pilot upset with the Gehlot government?
According to sources, Pilot was upset by the notice sent to him by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police, which sought to record his statement in connection with allegations that the BJP had indulged in horse-trading ahead of the recent Rajya Sabha elections, attempting to influence MLAs supporting the Gehlot government in a bid to topple it. The SOG had lodged an FIR based on intercepted conversations between two persons said to be affiliated to the saffron party.
Gehlot, however, tweeted to clear the air about the SOG summons, saying notices had also been sent to him and to other ministers, in order to record their statement.
Pilot was not available for comments, but sources say that the SOG notice came as the last straw in a long series of attempts by Gehlot to allegedly sideline him in the state of affairs in Rajasthan.
It is well known that Pilot was upset over being passed over for the chief minister's post after the party won the Assembly elections in Rajasthan under his leadership in 2018. The Congress leadership preferred to hand over the reins to the experienced Gehlot, while Pilot had to settle for the post of deputy chief minister.
However, the friction between the two leaders has been palpable, and the Pilot camp intensified its attacks on Gehlot following the party's whitewash in the Lok Sabha elections. Even with regard to the anti-COVID-19 measures taken by the Rajasthan government, Gehlot and Pilot appeared to be carrying out parallel efforts.
According to those in the Pilot camp, the deputy chief minister is aggrieved over being sidelined in the decision-making and with Gehlot not being amenable to share the limelight with his deputy.
Pilot's moves are being closely watched, especially in the backdrop of Gehlot's allegation that the BJP is trying to repeat in Rajasthan what it achieved in Madhya Pradesh, referring to the toppling of the Kamal Nath government by taking the help of aggrieved leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections on June 19, Gehlot had accused the BJP of making efforts to lure the MLAs of the ruling party and had sequestered all of them at a hotel till the elections were held. Pilot offered public assurance while sharing the stage with Gehlot that the two Congress nominees for the upper house polls would win with more than expected numbers.
Gehlot met cabinet colleagues and legislators through the day, who called on him to express solidarity with him.
While there is intense speculation on whether Pilot is in talks with the BJP, according to sources close to Pilot, he has maintained that he will never go the Scindia way and will continue his struggle by remaining in the party.
The Congress has 107 MLAs in the Assembly, and it enjoys the support of 13 Independents and MLAs belonging to smaller parties, taking the total number to 121. The halfway mark in the Rajasthan Assembly is 100; the number could drop depending on whether MLAs resign their seats in favour of defecting to another party.
The BJP, in turn, has 72 MLAs, with the support of three independents.
