A day after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot showed his strength by organising a Congress Legislature Party meet at his residence in Jaipur, another meet is scheduled for the day.
All eyes are on Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot now. Will he attend the meet? A number of senior Congress leaders have reached out to Mr. Pilot since Sunday.
Here are the latest updates:
Pilot-led camp releases video showing 16 MLAs sitting together
In a show of strength, Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot-led Rajasthan Congress camp on Monday released a video showing at least 16 MLAs sitting together.
This comes hours after the Congress held a legislature party meeting. Party leaders said 106 of 122 MLAs attended, a claim contested by the Pilot camp.
The 10-second video was shared late at night on Mr. Pilot’s official WhatsApp group.
Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh tweeted the video with the caption “Family“.
The Congress Legislature Party meeting starts at Fairmont Hotel on the outskirts of Jaipur, where the Congress MLAs are staying. - Mohammad Iqbal
BTP asks MLAs to be neutral, neither support Gehlot nor Pilot
The Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP), which has two MLAs in the Rajasthan assembly, has asked its legislators to remain neutral and not align either with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot or his deputy Sachin Pilot.
The BTP has also asked its MLAs neither to align with the Congress nor the BJP during the ongoing political crisis in the state.
It may be noted that both the BTP MLAs were present at the CLP meet at Mr. Gehlot's residence on Monday. - PTI
Sena targets BJP over political storm in Rajasthan
Attacking the BJP over the political crisis in Rajasthan, Congress-ally Shiv Sena accused the NDA constituent of working to destabilise governments of its opponents. An editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ asked the BJP what is it going to achieve with this political misadventure in the “desert”, and said such moves will turn the country’s parliamentary democracy into a desert.
The country is facing problems like a coronavirus- triggered collapse of the economy and Chinese intrusion in Ladakh. The killings of 20 Indian soldiers in a face-off with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley is still afresh. Instead of solving these issues, the BJP is interfering in the internal bickering of the Congress and “encouraging horse-trading” in Rajasthan, the editorial said. - PTI
Avinash Pande's appeal to Sachin Pilot
AICC general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pande has appealed to Sachin Pilot and MLAs supporting him to attend today's CLP meeting.
In a tweet in Hindi tagging Mr. Pilot, Mr. Pande requested Mr. Pilot to repose faith in the ideology and values of the Congress, and strengthen the hands of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Gehlot meets Congress emissaries
Before the scheduled CLP meeting, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot discusses the political situation with senior leaders Avinash Pande, Ajay Maken, Randeep Surjewala and some of his Cabinet colleagues at a high-level meeting.
Mr. Pande, along with Mr. Maken and Mr. Surjewala, has been camping in Jaipur for the past two days after being deputed by the party to make attempts to resolve the issues.
The CLP meet is scheduled to happen at 11 am. - Mohammad Iqbal
The breaking point
The power struggle between Mr. Gehlot and his deputy had been going on for quite some time but the latest flash point was triggered by a notice from the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan police to the Deputy Chief Minister.
The SOG had sought time from Mr. Pilot to record his statement in a case of conspiracy and sedition registered after attempts were allegedly made by the BJP to bribe Congress MLAs to switch sides during last month's Rajya Sabha elections.
But Mr. Gehlot, on Twitter, had pointed out that the notice was misinterpreted as a similar notice was sent to the Chief Minister as well as the Congress had lodged a criminal complaint about attempted poaching.
Sachin Pilot, supporters unlikely attend the second CLP meet
As the Congress convened a second round of meetings with its legislators in Jaipur on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and his supporters will not attend.
Amid reports of the party's top leadership trying to placate Mr. Pilot, a source close to him denied that "any serious attempt was made to resolve the differences".
The same source also denied that the Pilot camp was keen on having key ministries like Home and Finance and insisted that the issue was one of "leadership and humiliation to Mr. Pilot" who continues to head the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) until now. - Sandeep Phukan
What does Pilot camp want?
Congress sources claimed that the group supporting the Deputy Chief Minister wanted the party to retain Mr. Pilot as Rajasthan Congress chief.
The sources also claimed that also on the table were demands to make four MLAs, supporting Mr. Pilot, Ministers in the Ashok Gehlot Cabinet as well as have a say in deciding 50% of the candidates in the upcoming Panchayat polls in the State.
Mr. Pilot, so far, has not issued any public statement and also did not respond to The Hindu’s attempt to reach him for his comments. - Sandeep Phukan
The story so far
The friction between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot is no secret. The latest in the series of tussles unfolded on Saturday when Mr. Gehlot blamed the opposition BJP of trying to topple his government by offering money to Congress MLAs, a charge the BJP vehemently denied.
Amid the war of words between Mr. Gehlot and the BJP leaders, the State Congress chief was unusually silent. He went incommunicado and along with a bunch of MLAs supporting him.
As the Congress high command tried to reach out a compromise between the two leaders, Mr. Gehlot conducted a CLP meet at his residence in Jaipur on Monday. Mr. Pilot was a notable absentee. Mr. Gehlot claimed he has the support of over 100 MLAs in the 200-seated Rajasthan Assembly.
Soon after the CLP meet, the MLAs, including some Independents, were lodged at a luxury resort.
In the meantime, the income tax department conducted searches at multiple locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Kota, of which some were allegedly linked to two Congress leaders from Rajasthan.
Amid the political turmoil, the premises of Rajiv Arora, vice-president of the State Congress and founder of a jewellery house, and another party leader Dharmendra Rathore were allegedly searched in Rajasthan.