‘Ashok Gehlot elder to me, I respect him personally’: Sachin Pilot on Rajasthan CM’s ‘nikamma’ remark

Sachin Pilot, sacked deputy CM of Rajasthan, has taken strong exception to Ashok Gehlot’s remarks against him. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, a day after he met senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, Pilot said that Gehlot is senior to him and he personally respects him.

“I imbibed certain values from my family, no matter how much I oppose anyone, I have never used such language. Ashok Gehlot ji is elder to me and I respect him personally,” he said.

This was the first time that Pilot has openly spoken to the media in over a month since he first opened a front against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Pilot made truce with the Congress on Monday after a meeting with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra.

When asked whether he will work with Gehlot, Pilot said that it is his right to flag work-related concerns if he finds anything inappropriate.

#WATCH: I imbibed certain values from my family, no matter how much I oppose anyone, I’ve never used such language. Ashok Gehlot ji is elder to me & I respect him personally but I have the right to raise work-related concerns: Sachin Pilot on Gehlot’s ‘nikamma’ remark against him pic.twitter.com/mwwiYpBFxO

— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2020

“But I think, the way comments were made and words were used…it hurts everyone,” he said.

“It is not appropriate to respond. There should be a laxman rekha in the public discourse. I have never crossed this laxman rekha in the past 20 years,” Pilot said.

While referring to allegations levelled against him by the Ashok Gehlot camp, he said that the “truth is now in the public domain”.

Gehlot had earlier called Sachin Pilot a ‘nikamma’ and ‘nakara’ and accused him of making attempts to topple his own party government with the support of the BJP.

Pilot informed that a three-member committee has been formed by Congress after issues raised by him and some MLAs.

“The issues we raised were of importance. There is no place for malice or personal enmity in politics,” he said.

“In our meeting, Priyanka ji and Rahul ji heard our grievances patiently and assured that a road map will be chalked out to solve them,” the former RPCC president said.

“I harbour no wish to have a post, these things come and go. We need to work in the direction of strengthening the public’s confidence and trust in us,” he opined.