Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday dismissed speculation about a possible change of guard in the State following a meeting of senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot with party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi recently. Mr. Gehlot said there was no need to pay attention to the “rumours floating in the media”.
“My resignation letter is lying permanently with the Congress high command... I have authorised her [Ms. Gandhi] to remove me ever since I became the CM for the first time in 1998. If the CM is to be changed, it will be done without anyone getting a hint,” Mr. Gehlot said at a State–level event of the Rajasthan Revenue Service Council here.
Mr. Gehlot said such rumours, which were rife for the last few days, would create confusion, mislead the people and adversely affect governance. “The instability of the government is not desirable. We should be concerned about the condition of the Congress. The party should emerge as a strong Opposition at the national level.”
The Chief Minister said his government had brought a “splendid budget” this year and was working hard to improve the infrastructure. As the State was marching ahead in the health, education, power and water sectors, the common people who had not voted for the Congress were also of the view that the it should emerge stronger, he said.
Mr. Pilot had staged a rebellion along with several MLAs in July 2020, bringing the Congress government to the brink of collapse, after which he was sacked as the Deputy Chief Minister and the Pradesh Congress Committee president. He later struck a peace deal with the party leadership and was assured that his grievances would be addressed by a committee.
