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‘Here for personal reasons’: MLA supporting Sachin Pilot on being in Delhi
The crisis in the Rajasthan Congress escalated on Sunday with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot at loggerheads, with the CM blaming the BJP for attempting to topple the state government by poaching MLAs.
Rajasthan Congress MLA Rohit Bohra, one of the three MLAs who had visited the national capital on Saturday and is believed to be supporting Sachin Pilot, on Sunday said that he had visited Delhi for personal reasons, news agency ANI reported.
“We went to Delhi due to personal reasons. If the media says we went there for this reason or that, then it’s not our problem. We don’t want to be part of any controversy. We are the soldiers of Congress and will be with the party till our last breath,” Bohra said.
The crisis in the Rajasthan Congress escalated on Sunday with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot at loggerheads, with the CM blaming the BJP for attempting to topple the state government by poaching MLAs.
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Deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot is camping in Delhi to speak to the party leadership regarding the political turmoil in the state.
On Sunday evening, Rajasthan Congress MLAs said, “The Congress stands united,” at a press conference, which was also attended by Rohit Bohra. Bohra said that his visit to Delhi had been personal and he had happened to meet the other two MLAs in the capital.
The Congress Legislature Party is slated to meet at the Rajasthan CM’s residence at 10:30 am on Monday. CM Gehlot has also called a meeting of Congress lawmakers in Jaipur tonight to discuss the political crisis.
ALSO READ | Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot to meet party lawmakers tonight
Earlier in the day, Gehlot said on Twitter that the special operations group (SOG) has sent notices to the Chief Minister, Deputy CM, Chief Whip, some other ministers and MLAs in connection with the Congress Legislative Party’s complaint about poaching of MLAs by BJP.
In the 200-member Rajasthan assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs and has support the of another 18, taking its tally to 125. The BJP has 72 legislators and is supported by three MLAs of Hanuman Beniwal’s RSLP. In the Rajya Sabha elections on June 19, the two Congress candidates got votes of all 125 legislators supporting the government.
Some disgruntled Congress MLAs are, however camping in Delhi, party sources have indicated.
