Rajasthan: Sachin Pilot renews feud with Gehlot, announces hunger strike
Infighting in the Rajasthan Congress has once again come to the fore after Sachin Pilot accused Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of shielding Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in corruption cases. Pilot has announced he would sit on a hunger strike on Tuesday against the Gehlot-led government to press for his demand of action against alleged corruption in the previous government led by Vasundhara Raje.
Why does this story matter?
Rajasthan's Congress unit witnessed a major political crisis last September when Gehlot loyalists tried to arm-twist the party's central leadership to let him file his nomination for the Congress president while also being Rajasthan's CM—against the party's "one person, one post" policy. Gehlot was reportedly reluctant to let the CM's chair go to Pilot, who unsuccessfully attempted a coup against his government in 2020.
Pilot accuses Gehlot of inaction against former CM Raje
According to NDTV, Pilot accused Gehlot of inaction in the corruption cases against Raje. He alleged the scams that took place under the BJP-led state government were being suppressed despite Congress's promise before the 2018 Assembly elections that it would investigate corruption cases. He claimed that the government failed to act against the excise mafia, illegal mining, land encroachment, and the Lalit Modi case.
Got not response to repeated letters to Gehlot: Pilot
Pilot claimed that he wrote letters to CM Gehlot twice regarding the investigation of the corruption cases, adding that no response came. "I wrote the first letter on March 28, 2022. Got no reply. Then I wrote again on November 2, 2022," he said. "I do not believe in revenge politics. But we had some credibility as the opposition," Pilot added.
Pilot accused Gehlot of suppressing Rs. 45,000 crore-worth scams
The Congress leader also accused Gehlot of suppressing Rs. 45,000 crore-worth scams that took place during Raje's tenure. He said that even after four and a half years, the case was not handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He also talked about Gehlot's statements while in opposition, in which the latter leveled many accusations against the Raje government.
Gehlot faced such criticism from Pilot earlier too
Recently, Pilot wrote a letter to Gehlot demanding action over the misbehavior against the widows of Pulwama martyrs. He said that with only a few months left for the Assembly elections, if everyone is respected, then Congress can win the battle in 2023. In January, he targeted the Gehlot government over the exam paper leaks and demanded that the "big sharks" be arrested.
A little more about Pilot-Gehlot rift
Pilot and Gehlot have had a long-running feud. After the 2018 polls, they were promised the CM chair on a sharing basis. Pilot launched a rebellion when he wasn't offered the same in 2020, and the Gehlot government was in crisis. However, Pilot eventually surrendered. Last year, when the Congress high command sought to appoint Pilot as Rajasthan's CM, Gehlot-backed MLAs threatened to quit.
