Days after Rajasthan Congress truce, party revokes suspension of 2 Pilot camp MLAs

Three days after Sachin Pilot reconciled with Congress, the suspension of party MLAs Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Bharatpur was revoked. They were key members of the Pilot camp which flew to Delhi on July 11 leading to a crisis in the Rajasthan Congress. According to Congress general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pande, this decision was taken after a consultative discussion. Ahead of the Assembly session commencing on Friday, this is being perceived as a reconciliatory gesture to ensure the unity in the Congress ranks. 

On July 17, the aforesaid legislators were suspended from the primary membership of Congress after audio recordings allegedly nailing their role in horse-trading surfaced. Subsequently, Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi filed a complaint with Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group against the names featuring in the tapes. Interestingly, Sharma met the Rajasthan CM at his residence in Jaipur on Monday and affirmed his faith in Ashok Gehlot's leadership. Rejecting the authenticity of the tapes, Sharma dispelled the notion of different camps existing in the Congress party. 

Read: Rajasthan Govt Crisis LIVE Updates: Post-rift, Pilot Faces CM Ashok Gehlot At CLP Meet

BJP to move a no-confidence motion

Earlier in the day, BJP announced that it would move a no-confidence motion against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan during the Assembly session on Friday. This assumes significance amid the purported unease in the legislators close to Gehlot on the reconciliation of the Sachin Pilot camp MLAs with Congress. Talking to the media after the BJP Legislative Party meeting, Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria predicted that the government was unlikely to last for a long time. Alleging that there were a lot of differences in the government, Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia stated that BJP and its allies would bring in the no-confidence motion if the state government failed to move a motion of confidence on its own. 

Read: Sachin Pilot Meets Supporters In Jaipur Ahead Of Meeting Gehlot Face-to-face At CLP Meet

Three-member committee constituted

The efforts to ensure the stability of the Congress government bore fruit on Monday when Pilot met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the national capital. In an official statement, Congress revealed that the ex-Rajasthan Deputy CM expressed his grievances in detail and held a frank, open, and conclusive discussion. Furthermore, he committed to working in the interest of the Congress party. A three-member committee was constituted to address the issues raised by the Pilot camp MLAs and reach an appropriate resolution. 

Read: Sachin Pilot Says 'was Never Greedy For Posts' After Meeting Top Congress Brass