Amid reports that disgruntled Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot may announce his own regional party on June 11, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal on Friday dismissed them as “rumours”.
Though Mr. Pilot himself hasn’t made any statement regarding quitting the Congress, there has been intense speculation that he may make some major announcement on the death anniversary of his father, Rajesh Pilot, on June 11 at Dausa, as none of the issues he raised were addressed by the party high command.
Earlier, Mr. Pilot had given an ‘ultimatum’ to his own government to order a high-level probe into the alleged corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government, by the end of May. His two other demands were to reconstitute the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and provide compensation for those affected by the cancellation of recruitment exams because of paper leaks. So far, none of his demands has been accepted.
‘No such movement’
However, speaking to reporters at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Mr. Venugopal said he had been in regular touch with Mr. Pilot and reiterated that the Congress would unitedly fight the Rajasthan Assembly election, likely to be held this year end.
Asked if Mr. Pilot is launching a separate party, Mr. Venugopal said: “These are all rumours. In my knowledge, there is no such movement in Rajasthan.” Stating that he had “a word with Sachin Pilot two-three times, he added: ”Don’t worry, we will fight unitedly in Rajasthan”.
Truce meetings
On May 29, the Congress general secretary announced a truce between Mr. Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot after holding marathon meetings with the two leaders separately at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s official residence. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi too was part of these meetings.
Briefing the media, Mr. Venugopal had said that the two Rajasthan leaders had agreed to accept “the high command’s peace proposal”.
However, on May 30, this newspaper reported that the truce may have been announced prematurely as “no concrete peace formula” was proposed to either side.
While speculation was that Mr. Pilot could be offered the post of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief ahead of the Assembly election, Mr. Gehlot had subtly made his objections clear.
“I remember the words of Sonia Gandhi, who at the Congress convention had asked party workers to have patience and that they would get to serve the party in some way. I keep this in my heart and tell party people to have patience. They would get the opportunity to serve the party in some way. So I call for patience, patience, patience,” Mr. Gehlot told reporters on May 30.
Mr. Pilot had made it clear that he won’t back down from his key demands, including a high-level inquiry against the alleged scams during the Vasundhara Raje-led government.
