Rajasthan cabinet reshuffle: Sachin Pilot to meet Sonia Gandhi; 3 top mins to be ousted

Amid the impending Rajasthan cabinet reshuffle, miffed ex-Dy CM Sachin Pilot is scheduled to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday in Delhi. Sources report that Pilot will be seeking clarity about his 'future role' in the party. This meeting comes a day after CM Ashok Gehlot met with the party chief to discuss the cabinet reshuffle and appointments in the state. Recently, Pilot expressed dissatisfaction over his concerns not being addressed by the three-member committee in the last one year.

Sachin Pilot to meet Sonia Gandhi

Sources have informed that the cabinet reshuffle will follow the "one leader-one post" policy hinting at high-profile exits. As per sources, three leaders - Rajasthan PCC chief Govind Dotasra, AICC in-charge of Punjab Harish Chaudhry, AICC incharge of Gujarat Raghu Sharma are likely to be out in the reshuffle. This comes after several unsuccessful rounds of talks on cabinet reshuffle.

Recently, many legislators close to Sachin Pilot publicly voiced their disappointment over the delay in Cabinet expansion and political appointments. Later, 6 BSP-turned-Congress MLAs and 13 Independents sought time to meet Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to counter  Pilot camp's demand for Cabinet expansion. Pilot has also demanded cabinet expansion at a public event, warning of an imminent split in the party if no solution is found 

Sachin Pilot's failed rebellion

After Jyotiraditya Scindia's successful rebellion against the erstwhile Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government in March 2020, his peer Sachin Pilot too staged a rebellion in July, flying off to Delhi with 18 MLAs. Rajasthan's Special Operations Group (SOG) issued notice to him in connection with the alleged involvement of BJP leaders for toppling the state government - with BJP members hinting that Pilot was reportedly in touch with the BJP camp to become the CM. The Gehlot goverment was thrown into jeopardy as Congress' numbers reduced to 88, with the Speaker immediately issuing disqualification notices Pilot & his 18 MLAs from the Assembly. Congress later relieved Pilot of his ministries as well as posts as PCC chief and Deputy CM.

The political saga reached the Rajasthan High Court as Pilot and his MLAs challenged their disqualification - with the HC ordering maintaining the 'status quo'. With Gehlot managing to maintain his flock while Congress top brass - Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Ahmed Patel - held talks with Pilot and his miffed MLAs and Pilot was successfully brought back into the party's fold. The Gehlot government then won the confidence motion in the Assembly, cutting Pilot to size. Recently, Pilot has been spotted at public rallies with Gehlot and slammed the BJP for speculating 'another rebellion by him'.