Rajasthan: Sachin Pilot distances self from Gujjar leader's demand

JAIPUR: Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Wednesday distanced himself from Gujjar leader Vijay Bainsla's demand that he (Pilot) be made the chief minister or else the Gujjars would oppose Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state.
Pilot said BJP leaders were worried about the success of Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra and wanted to disrupt it, but the people of Rajasthan and Congress would make it a "historic success" in the state.
Pilot attended a meeting of the state coordination committee for the yatra in Jaipur on Wednesday morning but left early, saying he was scheduled to go to Madhya Pradesh to join Gandhi. CM Ashok Gehlot was presiding over the coordination meeting, and the uneasiness between him and Pilot was perceptible.
Gurjar Arakshan Sangharh Samiti leader Vijay Singh Bainsla, son of late Col Kirori Singh Bainsla, has threatened to oppose Gandhi's yatra in Rajasthan unless his demands, including making Pilot, a prominent face from the community, the CM were accepted. Bainsla has also accused the Congress government of not fulfilling the promises made to the community.
"No matter how hard BJP tries, the yatra will be successful," said Pilot when asked about Bainsla's threat. "BJP may try to create disturbances...but it is 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and it will be successful. We will all welcome the yatra with unity," he said outside the party's war room, where a meeting was convened to review preparations for the yatra.
On Bainsla's remarks that the community had voted for Congress believing that a Gurjar leader would be made CM, Pilot said Congress was reduced to 21 seats in the 2013 Assembly elections, but the people from all communities gave it a winning mandate in the 2018 elections.