Sources close to Sachin Pilot said he was in talks with the BJP. (File)
The BJP said today that the crisis in Congress in Rajasthan was “on its own initiative” – similar to what it said when Jyotiraditya Scindia and his collaborators left the party in Madhya Pradesh, dismantling the government of Kamal Nath.
It is Rajasthan’s deputy chief minister, Sachin Pilot, who is now enormously upset with his boss Ashok Gehlot and is camping in Delhi with several of his loyalist deputies. Sources close to him said he had talks with the BJP, which began in March and took place in parallel to the BJP talks with Mr. Scindia. The BJP denied any discussion.
“Buying and selling MPs in Rajasthan is a fabricated story. It is a film in which the screenwriter, producer, director and actor are all one person. The goal is to solve the disintegration of your party with its own president, “according to the BJP. Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat said in a tweet in Hindi today, highlighting Mr. Gehlot’s accusations in this regard.
Another tweet from him said, “The BJP is leading Congress in error.”
Gehlot said the BJP was trying to take power in the state by bribing MPs, as they did in Madhya Pradesh. Yesterday he said that the BJP was offering MPs up to 15 crore rupees to change their allegiance. “You have seen this in Goa, Madhya Pradesh and the northeastern states,” Gehlot told GalacticGaming.
Mr. Pilot was shocked by a letter asking him to appear for questioning by the Special Operations Group in connection with an investigation into the horse trade claim.
The chief minister said that he and the party leader, whip Mahesh Joshi, who had filed the complaint, had also been summoned for questioning.
“No one is above the law,” said sources.
In March, the government led by Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh collapsed when Jyotiraditya Scindia changed sides with 23 loyalist MPs. Mr. Nath then alleged that the BJP was bribing the MPs and attempting an “Operation Lotus” – a term coined during an exercise similar to Karnataka.
The BJP denied the charges, highlighting the internal unrest in Congress. This time, he has yet to offer an official response.
Mr. Scindia and Mr. Pilot – once among Rahul Gandhi’s closest collaborators – were left to their own devices after Mr. Gandhi resigned from the post of party leader after the party’s decimation last year by Lok Sabha. The two leaders, who have a huge mass of supporters, hope to be rewarded with high-level positions after the party returned to the two states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2018. But before the Lok Sabha elections, they did a descent after Mr. Gandhi’s interception.
