The crisis within the Congress deepened on Sunday, 12 July, as Rajasthan’s Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot – once a contender for the CM post in the state – reached Delhi with some of his loyal MLAs, reportedly to talk to the party leadership.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot called for an urgent meeting with party MLAs on Sunday night in Jaipur.
Has a Police Letter Become the Bone of Contention?
According to reports, Pilot was hugely upset over receiving a notice for questioning by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Police to investigate attempts of destabilising the Rajasthan government.
Clarifying on the summons, CM Ashok Gehlot tweeted saying the police had summoned the CM, the deputy CM and some MLAs to record their statements in relation to the horse-trading accusations. He said, “It is unacceptable that media is trying to give this matter a different spin.”
According to ANI, Gehlot too was summoned by the police for questioning. It must be noted that police department comes directly under the state government in Rajasthan.
‘Talent & Capability Find Little Credence in Congress’: Scindia
Reacting to the brewing crisis in Rajasthan Congress, Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted saying that he is sad to see his erstwhile colleague Sachin Pilot being “sidelined and persecuted” by Chief Minister Gehlot. He further added that this goes on to show that “talent and capability find little credence in the Congress party.”
‘Worried for Our Party’: Kapil Sibal Amid Fears of MP-Like Crisis
Amid fears that there will be a repeat of what happened in Madhya Pradesh after Jyotiraditya Scindia left the party in a long-drawn tussle between the old guard and new, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal tweeted, “Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables?”
‘Lessons To Be Learnt From Google’: Karti Chidambaram
In a rather cryptic tweet, Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram insinuated that the Congress party has a lesson or two to be learnt from Google. “Why is Google a successful company? Because it lets talent to become entrepreneurial within the organisation,” he said.
This comes after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday at a press conference, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of "destroying democracy" in the country, amidst a pandemic.
Earlier, both Gehlot and Pilot accused the BJP of horse-trading to destabilise the government in the state before the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections on 19 June.
"At this time, we have to decide who is distributing dard (pain) and who is distributing davaa (medicine)," said Gehlot at the press conference, also attended by Pilot and other Congress leaders, reported NDTV.
Reacting to Gehlot's statement, BJP Rajasthan Chief, Satish Poonia, said that he "has been speaking as a man who has become mentally unstable". "His statements reflect despair," he said.
The comments from Gehlot came after all the MLAs of the Congress party in Rajasthan and the independent MLAs supporting the government were summoned by the party high-command at a resort in Jaipur amid reports of the BJP trying to lure them to switch parties.
Earlier Pilot had said that all Congress MLAs, MLAs who are supporting them from other parties as well as Independents were "all united" and confident of winning the Rajya Sabha vote.
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