Sachin Pilot traitor, can't be made Rajasthan CM: Ashok Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot called Sachin Pilot a gaddar traitor on Thursday and said he cannot replace him as he had revolted against the Congress in 2020 and tried to topple his own governmentThe remarks have further widened the fissures in the Congress party in Rajasthan where Assembly polls are slated next year The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also set to enter the desert statePilot who walked alongside Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday did not react to Gehlots remarksGehlot also alleged that Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party BJP leader Amit Shah was involved in Pilots rebellion when some Congress MLAs loyal to him were holed up in a Gurugram resort for more than a month and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited them often claiming that he has proof that an amount of Rs 10 crore was paid to each of those legislators including PilotThe veteran leader also said the Congress can replace him with any of its 102 MLAs in Rajasthan except Pilot if the top leadership feels that the prospects of the party would improve in next years Assembly pollsThe MLAs will never accept someone who has revolted and has been dubbed as a gaddar How can he become the chief minister How can the MLAs accept such a person as the chief minister I have proof that Rs 10 crore each were distributed to the MLAs holed up in a Gurugram resort for toppling the Congress government in Rajasthan Gehlot told NDTVHe said one will never find an example where a party president tries to topple his own governmentRajasthan BJP chief Satish Punia has however denied the charge that the saffron party was involved in paying money to Congress legislators in 2020 to defectGehlot said if Pilot had apologised to the MLAs and won them over things would have been differentTill now he has not apologised If he had apologised I would not have had to apologise the chief minister said referring to his apology to former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi after more than 90 MLAs close to him did not allow a Congress Legislature Party meeting to take placeAlso ReadLaw and order in Rajasthan has deteriorated Anurag ThakurAsked if Pilot can still replace him if the highcommand decides so Gehlot said it is a hypothetical question How will that happen That cannot happen he saidHe said a recent meeting of the party MLAs after they did not allow the CLP meet to take place was not a rebellion but a revolt against Pilot who tried to topple his own governmentGehlot and Pilot have been at loggerheads over chief ministership ever since the Congress won the Rajasthan polls in 2018While Gehlot has been saying that Pilots 2020 rebellion cannot be ignored and that he does not enjoy the support of a majority of the Congress MLAs the Pilot camp has been claiming that the legislators want a change in the leadershipThere have been murmurs in the Rajasthan Congress over a possible change in the leadership but the same is being resisted by another section tooGehlot has been saying that the 90 MLAs who had saved the government during Pilots rebellion are loyal to the party highcommand and not to himHe said the legislators wanted Pilot to at least apologise to the party highcommand and the people of RajasthanGehlot expressed the hope that the Congress highcommand will do justice with RajasthanThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever