Truth can be harassed, but not defeated: Pilot

NEWDELHI: Sachin Pilot broke his silence amid the turmoil in Rajasthan’s government on Tuesday and thanked his supporters shortly after the Congress removed him as the deputy chief minister and state unit chief even as many leaders from his party said they regretted the developments over the past two days that roiled the administration.

“My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all those who have come out in my support today,” he tweeted. Earlier in the day, he tweeted in Hindi, “Truth can be harassed, but not defeated.” He also changed his profile details on Twitter, deleting all references to his positions as deputy chief minister and Rajasthan Congress chief, and described himself as MLA of Tonk and a former minister of IT, Telecom & Corporate affairs, Government of India.

Pilot was removed from his positions after he refused to attend the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Jaipur on Tuesday. To be sure, he has neither been expelled nor has he formally quit the primary membership of the party.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said Pilot held a constitutional post and some of his actions may not have been in sync with that position.

“Some doors have to close if the open doors are not utilised for constructive closures. We still hope that closure of options will be an exception, and harmonious settlement the rule. A constitutional government responsibility of deputy CM obviously sits uneasily with activities which are anti-party,” he said.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said the development was “disappointing” for party workers who reposed faith in the party.

“It is not just disappointing for the party, but also for the grassroots workers, who want the party to progress and do well. The biggest blow is to the common workers who have reposed faith in the party. This has certainly hurt the common workers,” he said.

Another senior leader Salman Khurshid dubbed the developments sad. “I don’t want to go into the specifics of apportioning blame. I wish that we would all together be fighting the challenges rather than letting such things happen,” he said.

Former union minister Jitin Prasada said no one could take away the fact that Pilot worked with dedication for the Congress.

“Sachin Pilot is not just a colleague but my friend. No one can take away the fact that all these years he has worked with dedication for the party. Sincerely hope the situation can still be salvaged. Sad it has come to this,” he tweeted.

Another Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was sad to see Pilot “leave” the Congress and hoped that reconciliation was still possible..

› Some doors have to close if the open doors are not utilised for constructive closures. We still hope that closure of options will be an exception, and harmonious settlement the rule.

ABHISHEK SINGHVI, Congress spokesperson