Facetoface

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday told reporters that his former deputy Sachin Pilot was acting on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and was given money, “backed by corporate houses from Mumbai”, to bring down the Rajasthan government. He said he was an elected CM, “not a vegetableseller”, indicating that he was aware of the alleged controversy for months. Hours before making these comments, he spoke to Vinod Sharma about the thinking in the party, the tapes alleging a BJP hand in the alleged move to topple the government, and the position in the state assembly. Edited excerpts:

Are you on the same page as the party high command on Sachin Pilot -- you have accused him of a conspiracy to dislodge your government, but the central leadership seems willing to call a truce if he retraces his steps?

I’ve always followed the directions of the high command... Regarding this matter, all directions will be followed. The ideology and thinking of leaders of my generation has always been to make our party strong. (But a) few young people think their personal interests are bigger than those of the party; that they are superior to the high command. That’s why problems of such kind occur. I believe the party should strictly follow whatever the high command decides.

You have furnished recorded tapes of attempts to topple your government. When did you come to know about it? What is the high command’s view on that?

I want to clarify that we have not furnished any tape. These audio clips had already gone viral on social media. We also got it on social media. The person who looks after our media sent it to the media to expose the lies of the BJP and its allies. But I know that they had been planning to topple the government for at least the last six months. That’s why at the time of Rajya Sabha elections we had to move [MLAS] to a hotel for 10 days. Few of them (rebels) had a plan to leave at 2am on June 10 - the day before the death anniversary of the late Rajesh Pilot. The rest of them were planning to leave after paying tributes to him at Dausa. I got this information at midnight. I talked to district collectors, spoke to my MLAS and asked them to come to Jaipur...their plan ended in failure.

Several young Congress leaders have expressed support for Pilot. Why is Gen-x feeling restive? Is it that they don’t see any future in the Congress?

People who talk of a ‘Congressmukt Bharat’ should stop dreaming. Every Congress person who has faith in the party’s leadership and its ideology and policies -- and who can work giving priority to the party rather than self-interests – has a bright future in the Congress. Those who rise from frontal organisations such as the NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) , Youth Congress, Seva Dal, Mahila Congress and have worked at grassroots level cannot feel restive. They know if they’re working hard, with honesty and diligence, the party will look after them; that ample opportunities will come their way. I’m an example of it. I worked in NSUI, was elected as an MP at the age of 28 and became a minister when I was 29. I was PCC {Pradesh Congress Committee} president three times, a central minister three times, and also a party general secretary three times. Now I’m chief minister for the third time with the support and blessings of the people... We never promoted groupism or factionalism.

Have Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoken to you on the prevailing crisis? They appear keen on retaining