Rajasthan political crisis: Truce hinged on three key demands | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Rajasthan political crisis: Truce hinged on three key demands

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | BySunetra Choudhury, New Delhi
Jul 15, 2020 05:53 AM IST

According to a senior Congress leader who spoke on condition of anonymity, Sachin Pilot placed three conditions before the party leadership that simply couldn’t be met.

How did the Congress party go from reaching out to Rajasthan’s deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and Rahul Gandhi expressing his “affection’’ for him, to removing him as the deputy chief minister in under 24 hours? Hindustan Times has spoken to several key Congress leaders to piece together the events that led to Pilot’s exit as deputy CM and also as the Pradesh Congress Committee chief.

Sachin Pilot had demanded that he would be made chief minister in 2022, a year before the elections.(PTI File Photo)
Sachin Pilot had demanded that he would be made chief minister in 2022, a year before the elections.(PTI File Photo)

According to a senior Congress leader who spoke on condition of anonymity, Pilot placed three conditions before the party leadership that simply couldn’t be met.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The first was that Pilot would be made chief minister in 2022, a year before the elections.

“He wanted a public committment right away that in the last year, he would be the Chief minister. He wanted us to announce it to all ,’’ added the leader, who is involved in the party’s decisions at the highest level.

Also read: Congress ejects Pilot from power; CM Gehlot still in Rajasthan cockpit

The second demand was that all of Pilot’s supporters would be given some position in the government -- not necessarily as ministers, but “rewarded” in some way, this person said -- “made heads of corporations or any other bodies.’’

The third and final demand was that Avinash Pandey, the general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan should be removed from his post. Pilot believes that Pandey is biased towards chief minister Ashok Gehlot and that the situation could return to normal only if another person was brought in his place.

“We really tried to bring him around but we couldn’t accept his condition. What if other leaders in other states started asking for this as well?’’ asked the senior leader.

Also read: How Ashok Gehlot retained support, made inroads into Sachin Pilot camp

Pilot didn’t respond to queries on whether he laid down these conditions, but one of his supporters said: ”But the Congress is not in power in other states. So why do they have this fear?’’

However, the senior Congress leader insisted that the party tried its best. He added that Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s brief to the mediators was simple -- try to bring Pilot around.

“Even till this morning, till before the CLP (Congress Legislative Party) meeting began, we kept talking to him. All of us spoke to him-- his well wishers within and outside the party but he wouldn’t listen,’’ said the leader.

Hindustan times has confirmed that while Rahul Gandhi did not speak to him, Priyanka Gandhi did make a call to Pilot.

Also read: Numbers behind Rajasthan story

When the last call from the emissaries was made at around 1030 am on Tuesday and Pilot still wouldn’t budge, the party went ahead with its meeting and passed a resolution against him.

That’s when Randeep Surjewala announced , ``We are sorry that Sachin Pilot and some of his ministers have gotten involved in a BJP conspiracy to bring down a democratically elected government.’’

“I have never said or done anything in my life against the Congress party,’’ a second supporter quoted Sachin Pilot as having said soon after the decision. “All I wanted was that the public humiliation that Ashok Gehlot put me through should also be publicly acknowledged and set right.’’

Unveiling 'Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

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