Gehlot camp Minister meets Sachin Pilot after long time; sparks buzz amid Rajasthan crisis

In a key development amid the buzz about the change of guard in Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot's key aide Pratap Khachariyawas met Congress MLA Sachin Pilot on Tuesday. Khachariyawas, who is the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister in the Rajasthan government, was one of the MLAs who submitted their resignation over the elevation of Pilot as the CM. Mentioning that the meeting took place after a long time, he refrained from revealing the details of the discussion. 

Speaking to the media, Pratap Khachariyawas remarked, "Sachin Pilot and I sit on one table in the Legislative Assembly. We talk in the Legislative Assembly too. He came home. There is nothing new in this. When Pilot Sahab comes, we won't do Bhajan-Kirtan. We will talk about everything. Everything was discussed". "I keep on meeting the CM. But I met Pilot Sahab after a long time. I accept this," he added. 

Political crisis in Rajasthan

Infighting hit Congress as over 90 Ashok Gehlot camp MLAs didn't turn up at the CLP meeting on September 25, held a parallel meeting at Rajasthan Minister Shanti Dhariwal's residence and submitted their resignation letters to Speaker CP Joshi. They demanded that a decision on the CM must be taken by the new Congress president, Gehlot must have a say in it and the position shouldn't be given to Sachin Pilot or any of his supporters. AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken submitted a written report in this regard to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on September 27.

Subsequently, the Congress party issued a show cause notice to 3 Gehlot loyalists over the breach of discipline in Rajasthan. Shanti Dhariwal, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) chairman Dharmendra Rathore and Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi were asked to explain within 10 days why disciplinary action shouldn't be taken against them. On September 28, the Rajasthan CM landed in the national capital amid buzz over filing his nomination for the Congress president's election. But he pulled out of the race a day later after apologising to Sonia Gandhi over his inability to rein in his loyalists. 

He also made it clear that his future as the Rajasthan CM will be taken by the Congress president. On the same day, Pilot also met Gandhi and asserted the need to put up a united front to win the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly polls. While Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal revealed that a decision on the fate of Gehlot will be taken within the next 1-2 days, status quo continues in the state for now.