Gehlot says he was never distanced from Pilot as 2 top Cong leaders share stage
The Congress leadership removed Pilot as the deputy chief minister and state party chief when he led a revolt of 18 Congress lawmakers against Gehlot in 2020
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday claimed that he was “never distanced” from his colleague and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who led a revolt against the former in July 2020.
The revolt of Pilot and 18 Congress lawmakers against Gehlot triggered a month-long crisis. The crisis was resolved when the Congress leadership removed Pilot as the deputy chief minister and state party chief.
“When have we been separated? We are always together and share a lot of love. This is only the media that says that there is distance between us,” Gehlot said as he attended a ceremony marking the death anniversary of Pilot’s father, the late Congress leader Rajesh Pilot.
Sachin Pilot on Saturday met Gehlot at his Jaipur residence and invited him to the ceremony. The two-hour meeting was their first such engagement since the 2020 revolt, signaling reconciliation between the two top Congress leaders.
On Wednesday, Gehlot and Pilot shared the stage on the late Rajesh Pilot’s death anniversary for the first time in five years. State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, Opposition leader Tikaram Jully, party-in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, parliament members Harish Chaudhary, and Murari Lal Meena were among others who attended the ceremony.
Gehlot said Rajesh Pilot left them too soon, and the pain of his loss will always remain the same. “We still remember his love. We paid our tribute to him. We were together as Members of Parliament for 18 years.”
{{/usCountry}}Gehlot said Rajesh Pilot left them too soon, and the pain of his loss will always remain the same. “We still remember his love. We paid our tribute to him. We were together as Members of Parliament for 18 years.”
{{/usCountry}}Congress leader Ved Prakash Solanki, known to be a close aide to Sachin Pilot, called Wednesday a historic day for Rajasthan and the party. “Many party workers, divided over the years, smiled unitedly after this meeting of Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot. We always stood with Pilot...all the genuine workers of the Congress were in Dausa and accepted the invitation to come and see the two leaders together. They all came to see the Congress united again.”
{{/usCountry}}Congress leader Ved Prakash Solanki, known to be a close aide to Sachin Pilot, called Wednesday a historic day for Rajasthan and the party. “Many party workers, divided over the years, smiled unitedly after this meeting of Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot. We always stood with Pilot...all the genuine workers of the Congress were in Dausa and accepted the invitation to come and see the two leaders together. They all came to see the Congress united again.”
{{/usCountry}}Former minister Hemaram Chaudhary, another Pilot aide, said it is good that the two top leaders shared the stage. “We have been waiting for this moment. It is not a good thing if there is any rift inside the party. With this unity, Congress will come back to power.”
{{/usCountry}}Former minister Hemaram Chaudhary, another Pilot aide, said it is good that the two top leaders shared the stage. “We have been waiting for this moment. It is not a good thing if there is any rift inside the party. With this unity, Congress will come back to power.”
{{/usCountry}}Gehlot and Pilot have been at loggerheads since 2020. The rift worsened even as the Congress leadership tried to have them reconcile. On May 25 last year, Gehlot said it was a miracle that his government survived the full term. “We all know how people tried to topple the government. It was the blessings of the high command and your prayers that I completed five years,” he said without naming anyone.
The two leaders were seen together at the Jaipur airport on April 28 to receive the Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. They travelled to Ahmedabad together in April as part of a team of leaders from the Congress’s Rajasthan unit.
In May 2023, Sachin Pilot announced a five-day foot march from Ajmer to Jaipur to raise issues such as corruption, as he sharpened his attack on Gehlot for inaction over graft and questioned his loyalty to their party’s leadership. He cited Gehlot’s speech in Dholpur and said it seems the chief minister’s leader is not Sonia Gandhi but his predecessor, Vasundhara Raje.
In his speech, Gehlot said Raje and two other opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, former assembly speaker Kailash Meghwal and legislator Shobharani Kushwah, helped save his government when Pilot led a revolt of Congress legislators against him in 2020.
Gehlot requested the legislators who “took the money” during the 2020 political crisis to “return it to Union home minister Amit Shah.” He said if they did not return the money, they would always be under pressure from Shah.
Pilot rubbished claims that the legislators got money from Shah as false. He maintained their protest was against Gehlot’s style of functioning, denying Gehlot’s allegations as baseless.
