Sachin Pilot said on Tuesday there is no place for malice or personal enmity in politics and that he respects his former boss Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who had called him “nikamma” and accused him of conspiring with the Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) to topple his government.
Pilot’s comments came a day after the patch-up following his revolt against Gehlot in July. He said while speaking to reporters Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi patiently heard the grievances he and other legislators had and that he was assured that a road map will be chalked out to solve them.
The 42-year-old leader also spoke about the comments made by his former boss, Gehlot. During the turf war, Gehlot had admitted in an interview that he has not been on talking terms with his former Number 2 for the last 18 months. He had also called Pilot “nikamma (worthless) and nakaara (good for nothing)”.
Watch: Sachin Pilot’s response to Ashok Gehlot’s ‘nikamma’ jibe
“I have imbibed certain values in my life from my family. No matter how much I oppose anyone, even if it were my bitter enemy, I have never used such language. Ashok Gehlot ji is elder to me and I have respected him personally but I have the right to raise my concerns over work-related and governance issues if see some discrepancy,” Pilot said.
“I was hurt but don’t want to respond to it. I think there should be dialogue, decency and a Lakshman Rekha in public discourse and I haven’t crossed that Lakshman Rekha in the 20 years of my poltical career,” he said.
“All want to say is that the truth has come out after the kind of allegations that were levelled.”
Pilot’s rebellion ended after his meeting with Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, putting an end to a month-long uncertainty involving dramatic legal and political flashpoints in Rajasthan.
{{/usCountry}}Pilot’s rebellion ended after his meeting with Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, putting an end to a month-long uncertainty involving dramatic legal and political flashpoints in Rajasthan.
{{/usCountry}}“...Shri Sachin Pilot has committed to working in the interest of the Congress party and the Congress government in Rajasthan,” the statement issued by KC Venugopal, Congress general secretary in charge of the organisation, said.
The Congress had removed Pilot as the deputy chief minister and state Congress president on July 14 and two of his supporters were suspended from the party.
Gehlot alleged that the BJP was trying to dislodge his government and his camp also said the BJP was helping Pilot. While the BJP repeatedly blamed the Congress’s internal rift for the Rajasthan crisis, Pilot said he would not join the BJP.