Jaipur: The Rajasthan BJP on Monday hit out at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for accusing his former deputy Sachin Pilot of being involved in a conspiracy to dislodge the Congress government in the state.
Former state deputy chief minister Pilot and 18 MLAs close to him had rebelled against Gehlot in 2020, triggering a political crisis in the state.
Gehlot had on Saturday said Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat’s recent remarks over the rebellion against him two years ago prove that he in connivance with Pilot tried to topple the state government.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria claimed that Gehlot is annoyed by the fact that Pilot enjoys widespread public support.
“Sachin Pilot has the support of the people while Gehlot and (parliamentary affairs minister Shanti) Dhariwal do not. Gehlot wants to throw him out so that he can rule like an autocrat,” he said.
Kataria’s deputy Rajendra Rathore called Pilot Neelkanth (the one with a blue throat), which is another name of Lord Shiva, who consumed a deadly poison for the benefit of living beings.
“Rajasthan’s CM and his ministers are crossing the limits of politics of insult. I would like to thank Sachin Pilot for his patience, who was sometimes called useless and sometimes a conspirator, Rathore told reporters in Bharatpur.
He has become Neelkanth. But when Neelkanth spews poison, an earthquake comes. When will that earthquake hit the Congress, I don’t know,” Rathore said, adding that Pilot’s patience should not be tested.
Has anyone stopped the chief minister from taking action against Pilot if he allegedly tried to topple the government in the state? Ever since Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has praised Pilot for his patience, the Rajasthan chief minister has become restless. Gehlot is only worried about saving his chair, he added.
Shekhawat had said at a meeting in Chomu town of Jaipur that Pilot missed the opportunity and had the government changed, water would have reached state areas through the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project.
