Rajasthan political crisis live updates: Sachin Pilot thanks his supporters; Gehlot holds cabinet meet

Senior Congress leader PL Punia claimed that the remaining MLAs who did not attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting held on Monday, will also return to the party fold. "It is very clear that BJP is trying to destabilise the government in Rajasthan. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has himself said that the BJP has crossed all the limits. 28 MLAs have given privilege motion against BJP due to their attempts. Congress's 107 MLAs were present and the rest of them will also come so the attempt at destabilising the government won't be successful. It has failed," said Punia.

The editorial said, in Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia of Congress merged with BJP with 22 MLAs. Scindia received Rajya Sabha as a reward. He will also be a Minister in the future. When this happened in Madhya Pradesh then people knew that Rajasthan will be next. It was predicted that Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot will follow the path of Scindia. It is getting true. Pilot is rebelling in Rajasthan with 30 MLAs, such a thing is being done, but this figure is being shown more, it added.

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 development came hours after a Congress legislature party meeting, where Congress MLAs expressed support for Gehlot and only indirectly referred to Pilot, whose rebellion threatens his government. BTP president Maheshbhai Vasava issued a whip to both the MLAs directing them not to vote for the Congress or the BJP or in support of Gehlot or Pilot in case a floor test is held in the assembly.

The spiralling impatience in Congress's GenNext, which has been biding its time for a while now, besides legislators and party workers in general, seems rooted in the perception that the party has a bleak future ahead given the apparent inability of the Gandhi triumvirate to fashion a credible response to a series of political setbacks. The sense of drift has led to the younger set reaching the conclusion that waiting longer will only shut down options. The latest crisis in Rajasthan has again raised questions over Rahul Gandhi's preparedness to intervene and grapple with the actual business of political negotiation and management.

Differences between Gehlot and Pilot cropped up during the ticket distribution to the 2018 assembly polls. Both wanted maximum tickets given to their loyalists. This had resulted in denial of tickets to many winning candidates, resulting in the Congress tally just stopping short of the halfway mark in the assembly polls.

BJP state president Satish Poonia on Monday said their priority was to see that the Congress doesn’t prove majority in the assembly. “Nothing can be said at the moment but we are 75 MLAs including our allies and people are interested in joining us. If the situation favours Sachin Pilot, our priority will be to see that the Congress does not form the government (proving majority),” he added. He also said even if somebody wanted us to support them, the central party leadership will take a call on the terms of engagement.

While a team of senior Congress leaders sent to Jaipur appealed to Pilot to call off his rebellion, he made it clear that the overtures were insufficient and measures such as a rejig of portfolios and assurances on his tenure as state chief were not enough. Efforts of Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who spoke to Pilot and sought to persuade him to return to Jaipur, were met with a similar response with the deputy CM not ready to settle merely for assurance of grievance redressal and insisting on a stature on par with Gehlot.

With his efforts to bring about a mutual accommodation between Gujjar and Meena communities so that their political animosities decline to the extent of accepting co-existence, Congress leader Sachin Pilot has given a new dimension to the caste equations in Rajasthan that could make him an attractive ally for BJP. Pilot has made his party leadership jittery, not the least as legislators from the two assertive communities view him favourably. Among the MLAs who skipped the Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting on Monday, risking the ire of the brass, were at least five from the Meena community. Given his stature as a Gujjar leader, Pilot will find these MLAs handy supporters. Though he has denied contact with BJP, Pilot’s reach with both communities can potentially ease matters for the saffron party. BJP will not need to worry much about a negative Meena reaction should it reach a deal with the Congress leader. Read more