Published 19:57 IST, July 14th 2020
Ashok Gehlot congratulates newly-appointed Rajasthan Congress chief, no mention of Pilot
Hours after Sachin Pilot was sacked, CM Ashok Gehlot congratulated Govind Singh Dotasara on his appointment as the President of Rajasthan Congress President
Hours after Sachin Pilot was sacked, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot congratulated Govind Singh Dotasara on his appointment as the President of Rajasthan Congress President. Taking to Twitter, the Chief Minister wished success for the newly appointed President and hoped for strengthening of the organizing under Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's leadership. Gehlot's tweet had no mention of his former Deputy.
The Chief Minister is currently chairing the first Cabinet meeting post the ouster of Sachin Pilot and two other ministers. Post the Cabinet meeting, another meeting of the Council of Ministers is to be held at 8 pm. Speaking to media for the first time after sacking Sachin Pilot and two other cabinet ministers, Gehlot said that there has not been any party in independent India's history which has used more undemocratic ways than the BJP. Claiming that it is the BJP top leadership who are calling the shots, Gehlot said that Congress gave two chances to Sachin Pilot and his loyalists to raise the concern but they remained unmoved.
Congress collapse triggered?
Sachin Pilot's ouster has brought several jolts to the Rajasthan Congress on the same day. The party's district President of Pali, Chunnilal Chadwas tendered his resignation on Tuesday. The President stated that he has been hurt by the 'undemocratic removal' of Sachin Pilot as state unit chief. National Students Union of India (NSUI) President Abhimanyu Poonia resigned from his post to express soldiarity with the former Deputy Chief Minister.
Along with Poonia, NSUI's Shivprakash Gurjar also tendered his resignation and stated that he will support Sachin Pilot 'until his last breath.' Meanwhile, the Congress' entire Dausa unit had also resigned shortly after Pilot was sacked as Gehlot's deputy. Anti-Gehlot slogans were witnessed outside the party's office in Ajmer. 59 office bearers of Tonk unit of Congress party in Rajasthan tendered their resignations in protest against the removal of Sachin Pilot.
Sachin Pilot sacked
Following the emerging cracks within the Rajasthan Congress leadership, Ashok Gehlot on Monday sacked Sachin Pilot as Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan, as well as the chief of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC), taking disciplinary action against its long-time leader following his failure to attend the second CLP meeting in Jaipur.
Apart from Pilot, two other cabinet ministers will be sacked from the party itself after they decided to stay back with Pilot and give the CLP meet a miss, which was seen as Congress' last-ditch attempt to mend fences with the miffed leader and his faction.
Sources have reported that Sachin Pilot has made it clear to the BJP, that if he were to join the party, he would want to take the lead as the Rajasthan Government's Chief Minister. Pilot's demand may meet an impasse since the Rajasthan BJP has some top brass and seasoned leaders like Vasundhara Raje, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Om Birla, who would be considered as top candidates to lead the state if BJP were to form a government in Rajasthan.
Updated 19:57 IST, July 14th 2020