Always knew Sachin Pilot as 'nikamma', but kept quiet in party’s interest: Ashok Gehlot

Jaipur, July 20: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday described his former deputy Sachin Pilot as a "worthless' person, "doing nothing", but said he raised no question over it in the party's interest.

In his statement, he, however, did not name him. He said no demand was raised to change the PCC president, a post which Pilot held for the last seven years in Rajasthan.

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Gehlot said he "used to talk about conspiracy to topple his government but nobody believed that he (Pilot), having an innocent face, good command over English and Hindi and influence over the media across the country, can do this".

"Rajasthan is the only state where no demand was raised to change the PCC president in seven years. We knew that nothing is happening here. We knew he is "nikamma" (worthless) and "nakara" (idle), still we did not question this in the interest of the party," Gehlot told reporters.

"I am also not here to sell vegetables," Gehlot said.

Earlier in the day, the Rajasthan High Court began hearing on the writ petition filed by rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident party MLAs from Rajasthan, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by the state Assembly speaker. The petition was taken up by a bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta on Friday and arguments were heard.