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Sachin Pilot’s aide responds to sacking, says punished for reminding of forgotten promises
The gulf between Gehlot and Pilot has widened with Sachin Pilot’s sacking from the government.
Vishvendra Singh, who was sacked from Rajasthan cabinet along with deputy chief minister Sachin pilot over allegations of being part of an alleged plot to topple Ashok Gehlot led Congress government in the state, has claimed that Pilot and his supporters have been punished for attempting to draw attention to unfulfilled promises made in the election manifesto two years ago.
Vishvendra Singh, was the tourism minister in the Gehlot cabinet till this afternoon, before the CM decided to sack him along with Pilot and Ramesh Meena, the state’s food and civil supplies minister, from his team for alleged anti-party activities. Singh suggested he was not satisfied with the explanation.
“What anti-party statement did we make? We only wanted to get the (party) high command’s attention to promises in our manifesto as we haven’t been able to deliver them in close to 2 years of being in power. For what fault was action taken?” Vishvendra Singh was reported as asking by ANI.
Earlier, Pilot in a terse one line tweet had indicated that he was not going to back out from the stand taken along with his supporters, said to be 16 in number, against the Gehlot government. “Truth can be frustrated, not defeated,” he had tweeted.
The developments on Tuesday are being seen in the light of the long-brewing discontent between the two factions after a very public show of disagreement over who should lead the state in the aftermath of a Congress victory in the assembly elections in 2018.
Pilot decided it was enough after he was served notice in a case of alleged horse-trading and attempt to topple the state government, by a special operations group (SOG) of Rajasthan police that reports to Gehlot.
Pilot’s followers said it was a direct affront to their leader and sought action against those responsible for the notice. However, the party high command stood by Gehlot.
Following the incident, Sachin moved out of the state with his supporters and refused to attend legislative party meetings called by the CM’s group.
The legislative party under Gehlot then passed a resolution seeking tough disciplinary action against Pilot and his followers, before they were formally removed from the cabinet.
Gehlot has accused the BJP of ‘ensnaring’ Pilot in its alleged grand design to destabilize the state government; however, the saffron party has not made any move so far, except for taking potshots at the internal rift within the Congress.
Party’s Rajasthan unit president Satish Poonia said the Gehlot government should go away in the interest of the people. Another party leader in Delhi added the party would not seek a floor test unless it is confident that both Gehlot and Pilot factions are falling short of numbers. Senior BJP functionaries also declined to comment if Pilot was in touch with the party.
BJP leaders have also rejected Gehlot’s charge of having a hand in the rebellion in the state Congress.
Following the hectic developments today, Rajasthan Police has beefed up security in the Gurjar-dominated areas, considered to be more sympathetic towards Sachin Pilot, anticipating trouble.
