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‘Who knew person with such innocent face will…’: CM Gehlot roasts Sachin Pilot
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, who in an interview to a TV channel admitted that he was not on speaking terms with his former No 2 for last 18 months, accused Pilot of working in cahoots with the BJP to bring down his government.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot turned the heat on his former deputy Sachin Pilot on Monday when he criticised the rebel leader with an “innocent face” for trying to dislodge his government.
Gehlot, who in an interview to a TV channel admitted that he was not on speaking terms with his former No 2 for last 18 months, accused Pilot of working in cahoots with the BJP to bring down his government.
“He (Sachin Pilot) was conspiring from past six months with BJP’s support. Nobody believed me when I used to say that conspiracy is going on to topple the government. Nobody knew that a person with such an innocent face would do such a thing. I’m not here to sell vegetables, I am the CM,” Gehlot was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Watch l ‘With an innocent face...’: CM Ashok Gehlot’s fresh attack on Sachin Pilot
Last week, Gehlot had taken a swipe at Pilot telling mediapersons that “speaking good English, giving good television bytes and being handsome” was not everything in politics.
Pilot, who has ruled out joining the BJP, was sacked as deputy chief minister and pradesh Congress committee chief last week over his failure to attend the two Congress legislature party meetings and leading a rebellion against the CM. The 42-year-old leader and his MLAs supporting him have been served a notice by the assembly speaker. They have appealed against the speaker’s notice in the Rajasthan high court.
Even though the party has made repeated efforts to reach out to Pilot, credited with leading the Congress’s successful 2018 assembly campaign, CM Gehlot has been taking hits at the rebel leader, accusing him, repeatedly, of trying to topple the government.
Contrasting the situation of his MLAs with those in team Pilot, the CM alleged that the latter were held against their wishes and have been calling him. Earlier today, a video surfaced where Gehlot and his MLAs at the resort were seen singing “hum honge kamyab (We shall overcome)”.
“Our MLAs are staying without any restrictions but they have held their’s (MLAs) captive. They are calling us and crying over phone while explaining their ordeal. Their personal mobile phones have been snatched. Some of them want to join us,” said CM Gehlot.
On Sunday, Congress’s Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pande said the party would decide on “merit” whether to allow some rebel MLAs back into the Congress fold.
Over the weekend, the two MLA of a regional outfit pledged support to the Gehlot government and submitted letters of support to the CM.
Sachin Pilot, when the drama began, claimed the support of 30 MLAs, however that number now stands at 18. On the other hand, Gehlot claims the support of over 100 MLAs. In the 200-member assembly, 101 is the majority mark. With 72 MLAs, the BJP has been watching the developments from the sidelines.
Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is named in the conspiracy to topple the state government after audiotapes appeared to give the impression that he was one of the parties in the alleged discussion to destabilise the government, said he ready to face an investigation but the police should first check the authenticity of the audio clips.
