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1 year on, issues of Pilot camp remain unresolved in Rajasthan
A year later, the Pilot camp claims most issues remain unresolved and that many promised political appointments are yet to happen.
On July 12, 2020, Sachin Pilot, the then Rajasthan deputy chief minister and state Congress chief and 18 MLAs rebelled against chief minister Ashok Gehlot, leading to a 30-day-long turmoil that saw conversations of rebel MLAs and a Union minister leaked on social media, a protracted legal battle over powers of the legislative assembly speaker to disqualify MLAs that reached the Supreme Court, and an anti-climatic compromise that ended the revolt, but which, as recent events have shown, did nothing to address the underlying issues.
A year later, the Pilot camp claims most issues remain unresolved and that many promised political appointments are yet to happen. Congress’s Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken last week indicated that a cabinet expansion to fill nine vacant positions and appointments in state-run corporations and boards would happen “very soon” without giving any clear time frame. Maken reached Jaipur and held two rounds of meetings with Gehlot in presence of state party chief Govind Singh Dotasara last Tuesday and Wednesday. “The exercise on Cabinet reshuffle and political appointments is a work in progress...,” Maken stated.
At 9pm on July 12 last year, Pilot’s camp released a statement on WhatsApp, claiming that the Gehlot-led Congress government was in minority, and that Pilot was being backed by 30 Congress MLAs and some independents, threatening the stability of the Congress government. The rebels stayed in Gurugram, Haryana till August 11, 2020 and returned to Jaipur after a month when it became clear that Gehlot had a majority on the floor of the House; the Congress high command set up a committee under Ahmed Patel to resolve issues.
In June, Pilot expressed his displeasure at the lack of action by the committee.
“We have apprised the party high command about everything... Our issues have not been resolved yet,” said Deepender Singh Shekhawat, MLA and former assembly speaker.
A senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity that even a cabinet reshuffle is unlikely to resolve the matter. Gehlot is pitching for independents and former Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs who saved his government during the floor test in August.
Efforts were made to contact Gehlot and Pilot but neither responded.
