'Congress won't expel but…': Message for dissidents amid Pilot vs Gehlot in Rajasthan

Dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot has threatened to launch a massive movement in Rajasthan if action on his demands is not taken by the month-end.

Amid the ongoing power tussle between Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, Congress's state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Saturday said the party won't expel dissidents but reminded how the leaders in the past had fared after leaving the party.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress leader Sachin Pilot.(ANI / File)

Pilot has opened a new line of attack against the Gehlot-led government for alleged inaction over corruption and exam paper leaks, causing embarrassment to the Congress party. He recently held a five-day and 125-kilometre ‘Jan Sangharsh Yatra’ from Ajmer to Jaipur while asserting that the agitation was not against anyone but against corruption and for the youth.

After the conclusion of the yatra, he threatened to launch a statewide movement in Rajasthan if action on his demands is not taken by the month-end.

The dissident Congress leader has demanded disbanding of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and its reconstitution, compensation for those affected by government job exam paper leak cases, and a high-level probe into charges of corruption he has levelled against the previous BJP government.

Replying to queries on the future of Pilot in the party, Randhawa, without naming anyone, said, "The party never wants to expel anyone. Congress is such a party that respects every person and never wants to leave those who are with it for a long time. The Congress did not expel anyone, and you all know the condition of the ones who left the Congress.”

Regarding Pilot's Yatra, Randhawa questioned the timing of the march.

“I say even today that it is a personal yatra. The Congress has nothing to do with it. The yatra should be taken out but undertaking it before the voting (in assembly elections) in Karnataka, I do not consider it a good thing...,” he said.

Randhawa also took a dig at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre, saying that the government "which could not run a ₹2,000 note for more than seven years is asking what the Congress did in 70 years".