Sachin Pilot will be in Delhi today, likely to meet party leadership
2 min read . Updated: 12 Apr 2023, 09:28 AM IST
Premium- Yesterday, Sachin Pilot sat in a daylong fast in Jaipur in a bid to target Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for ‘inaction’ in alleged cases of corruption when the BJP ran the state
Congress leader Sachin Pilot who sat on a fast yesterday, piling pressure on his own party regarding an old case, is likely to meet party leadership in Delhi today (12 April).
Yesterday Pilot sat in a daylong fast in Jaipur in a bid to target Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for "inaction" in alleged cases of corruption when the BJP ran the state.
Pilot defied Congress' leadership warning and sat on a fast ahead of assembly polls in the state. Pilot has argued that Rahul Gandhi has also been leading a movement against graft.
He said that Gandhi, Congress, and other opposition parties have united over corruption and financial irregularities, and claimed that his fast will speed up this “movement".
The former deputy chief minister said he wrote two letters on this issue to Gehlot last year but received no reply.
"We had assured people that effective action will be taken against corruption by the former BJP government. I wanted the Congress government to take action but it has not happened in over four years," Pilot said.
“This struggle against corruption will continue," he said.
Without getting into details, the Congress leader referred to the liquor and sand “mafias" that allegedly operated during the BJP term. On Tuesday, the BJP described the allegations as “fabricated".
Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have been in a power tussle in the state since the Congress formed the government in December 2018.
Yesterday, Pilot offered flowers at the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and social reformer Jyotirao Phule before starting his silent protest around 11 am.
He sat alone on the dais for five hours The song "Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye" played in the background. His supporters sat behind or below the platform.
No ruling party minister or MLA showed up as they were asked by Pilot to keep away. But several other leaders, including former MLAs Santosh Saharan and Ramnarayan Gurjar, were present.
Pilot’s fast was an apparent attempt to stall this in the run-up to the polls. It also triggered speculation again that he planned to leave the party.
In July 2020, Pilot and a section of Congress MLAs rebelled openly against Gehlot, demanding a change of leadership in the state. Pilot was stripped then of the posts of deputy chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee president.
The month-long crisis ended after the Congress central leadership’s assurance to look into the issues Pilot raised.