Gehlot, Pilot camps may meet today
nJAIPUR/NEWDELHI:MONDAY brought the news that the crisis in Rajasthan was over, with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot meeting Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi and the Congress agreeing to set up a three-member panel to address his grievances (and those of the 18 lawmakers loyal to him).
Tuesday saw Pilot, and the man whose style of functioning he and the lawmakers rebelled against, chief minister Ashok Gehlot give interviews and make the right noises.
On Wednesday, with neither Pilot nor Gehlot seeming to be willing to make the first move, and with the latter deciding that he would go ahead with a trust vote (and moving the lawmakers who remained loyal to him into a hotel), the Congress’ central leadership sent general secretary K C Venugopal to Jaipur.
The two leaders and their supporters will likely meet on Thursday , under his watchful eye. “The meeting time will be decided after discussionwith CM Gehlot,” said a senior Congress functionary who asked not to be named.
Pilot and the MLAS loyal to him reached Jaipur on Tuesday evening, almost a month after they left the city for Haryana, where they spent time in hotels in Manesar and Gurugram.
On Wednesday, the MLAS loyal to Gehlot came in from Jaisalmer and were housed (again) at the city’s Fairmont Hotel. They are expected to stay there till the assembly session begins on Friday. Gehlot himself came back to Jaipur a few hours later; he travelled to Jodhpur from Jaisalmer to meet the family of 11 Pakistani migrant Hindus, whose bodies were found in a hut on Sunday morning. He also met his family in Jodhpur.
Before leaving for Jodhpur, Gehlot said that he asked MLAS loyal to him to “forgive and forget” the rebel MLAS to save democracy. “It is natural for them (MLAS) to be upset…i have exhorted them that in the interest of the country, state and for saving democracy, sometimes we have to bear pain,” Gehlot said, while accusing the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party of orchestrating the rebellion to topple his government.
Striking a reconciliatory tone, Gehlot, who termed Pilot useless and worthless at the peak of the crisis said: “We all will work together and our colleagues, who had gone, have now returned. I hope of resolving all grievances, we will work and fulfill our commitment to serve the state.”
Former tourism minister Vishvendra Singh, part of the Pilot camp, said he and the others want their grievances to be addressed and hoped that the three member panel to be constituted by the party high command will look into all issues. He termed the crisis a”drawn match.” “We are looking at a possibility of Gehlot-pilot meeting on Thursday and show that all is well in the party,” he said.
A second Congress leader said Venugopal has also been asked to meet the Congress MLAS loyal to Gehlot after they expressed strong resentment against the rebels being welcomed back. Randeep Surjewala and Ajay Maken, who were present as Central observers at Jaisalmer meeting of the legislative party on Tuesday night are believed to have communicated to the leadership that the MLAS were not happy with return of the rebels without any reprimand.
Meanwhile, the legislature party of the Bharatiya Janata Party will meet at 11 am on Thursday at the party office. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, joint general secretary (organization) V Satish, national general secretary Murlidhar Rao, and national vice president Avinash Rai Khanna will be president in the meeting, said a release from BJP.
Earlier, the party had called all its 72 legislators to a hotel in Jaipur on August 11, said leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria. The plan was to keep them there until August 14 when the Assembly session begins. The plan was changed on Tuesday after the truce in the Congress.
BJP has 72 MLAS in the 200member Assembly. Its ally, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) has three MLAS. The party plans to take on the government in the house over farm loan waiver, other promises and its handling of the Covid-19 crisis.