As soon as the AICC postponed its meeting on Friday in Delhi with the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress leaders last night, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot started hurling accusations and challenges at each other. This mud-slinging indicates that the chances of political conciliation between two leaders are very minimal at this moment and are moving towards a fresh face-off.
Only four days are left for Pilot to decide on his future course of action as his ‘ultimatum’ regarding three-points he has demanded of the Gehlot government have still not been responded to either by Chief Minister’s Office or at the AICC level in Delhi.
Earlier, there was a little ray of hope when Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge invited Gehlot, Pilot, PCC President GS Dotasara, and other leaders to Delhi for today’s meeting to prepare the strategy for assembly elections to resolve the feud between two top leaders of Rajasthan.
In an indirect attack on Pilot’s three demands to compensate the students suffering in the competitive examination paper leak, Chief Minister Gehlot said, “A demand to compensate candidates who are victims of the paper leak is a ‘buddhi ka divaliapan’ (bankruptcy of mind/intellect). I never heard of such a demand being ever made by any party(sic).”
While addressing a new terminal of roadways bus stand yesterday, Gehlot further made an indirect jibe at Pilot: “Has such a demand been made ever in history? Can a government do that? Would you not call it a bankruptcy of the brain.”
“Where is the paper leak not happening? We have made the law. We have sent 200 people accused in paper leak cases to jail. Which state has sent such an accused to jail? If the opposition does not have any issues they will talk about paper leaks. There are 15 paper outs in Gujarat and 22 in Uttar Pradesh (sic).”
In a retaliatory move, a poster depicting Sachin Pilot reads: ‘Sirf ek banda kaafi hai. One person is enough to shake the roots of corruption, to raise a voice against injustice, to give the people their rights”. This poster was being trolled on social media since last night (sic).
When contacted to confirm the poster release, it was said that Pilot was in Delhi, while his media group said they were ignorant about his presence in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Congress party in charge, told the Media at the circuit house last evening that he will control the conflict as such things happen in a party or a family that has some importance in politics to offer to the public.
There is also a rumour in political circles that Pilot wanted to bargain and settle the tussle with Gehlot if the AICC offered him the post of the president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee in view of upcoming assembly polls in December this year.
