COURTESY MIRROR MAY 29

Rajasthan govt in turmoil as Gehlot-Pilot feud intensifies
Amid renewed attacks by both camps, the two leaders met Priyanka after Rahul turned them away
Sweta.Dutta@timesgroup.com

#NEW DELHI

The Congress's resounding loss in the parliamentary polls has once again brought to the fore the bitter rivalry between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot, with each camp blaming the other for the party's abysmal performance.

On Tuesday, both Gehlot and Pilot sought appointments with party chief Rahul Gandhi but were turned away, sources said. The leaders, however, did meet Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and explained their case.

After reports emerged that Rahul was miffed with senior leaders like Kamal Nath, P Chidambaram and Gehlot spending too much time on their wards’ campaigns, Pilot’s camp began to speak up openly against Gehlot. Since then, Jaipur has been abuzz with several lists of Gehlot’s poll schedule showing how he spent two-thirds of his time campaigning for his son Vaibhav in Jodhpur.

While questions have been raised, though in hushed tones, on why Gehlot has not taken moral responsibility for the rout and stepped down voluntarily, others cited Kamal Nath’s example. A close aide of Gehlot told Mirror, “Kamal Nath offered to step down from the position of state Congress chief and not from the CM’s post. People are comparing Captain Amarinder Singh’s performance with Gehlot but look at how much time each had after their election. Also, if the onus lies on Gehlot, then as deputy CM and state party chief Pilot should also take some responsibility.”

Another legislator close to Gehlot added, “If the party lost on the booth where Gehlot voted or in his assembly constituency, then Pilot fared no better. We trailed behind in 184 assembly seats out of 200. This cannot be misinterpreted as only Gehlot’s failure.”

In a counter move, the Gehlot camp released data to show that out of the 52 days of campaigning, he spent only 11 days in Jodhpur. Of the 104 rallies he attended – a large number of them with other senior leaders – he held 13 meetings and spent one day in door-to-door meetings in support of his son. The numbers, however, showed that the Congress veteran held far fewer rallies in neighbouring constituencies like Jalore (three), Barmer (two), Pali (five). In Jaipur, which is the seat of the state government, Gehlot held a total of 12 workers and public meetings. His aides pointed out that out of the 25 nomination filings by candidates, Gehlot attended 22.

While the state capital remained abuzz with allegations and counter-allegations between the two camps, there were those who refused to take sides. “Our biggest worry right now is whether Rahul will continue as the party chief. These state-level issues are unnecessary,” said a Youth Congress functionary.

While there is buzz that BJP has been trying to poach MLAs from Congress and from among the independents, who supported the party in forming the government, MLAs contacted by Mirror denied any such moves