There is nothing in Pilot's hands, BJP is running the show: Raj CM Gehlot

Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for conspiring and resorting to horse-trading in Rajasthan which led to the current crisis. He also said that there is nothing in Sachin Pilot’s hands, it’s the BJP which is running the show.

“The high command was compelled to take the decision because since a long time BJP was conspiring and resorting to horse-trading. We knew it was a huge conspiracy; now some of our friends went astray because of it and went to Delhi,” Gehlot said after meeting Governor Kalraj Mishra and dropping Pilot and two other ministers from his cabinet.

“There is nothing in Sachin Pilot’s hands, it is the BJP which is running the show. BJP has arranged that resort and they are managing everything. The same team which worked in Madhya Pradesh is at work here,” he added.

The crisis in Rajasthan came to the fore after the state police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) sent notices to Pilot and other leaders in connection with an alleged plot to topple the Congress government in the state.

Pilot’s supporters called the move humiliating and the young Congress leader left the state along with his 16 MLAs. He further claimed that the Gehlot government is in minority and sought a floor test in the Assembly.

Gehlot too gathered his supporters and took them to a resort near Jaipur. The Congress deputed two leaders from Delhi to pacify the rebels and keep the flock together.

Those leaders urged Pilot and his supporters to come back, but those appeals went unanswered. The Congress party also held two meetings of the legislature party (CLP) in two days and various leaders sent public messages to Pilot to attend. But the 42-year-old skipped both the meetings.

At Tuesday’s meeting, party leaders asked for action against the rebels “to send a tough message”. Immediately after the meeting, Pilot was removed as state unit chief.

Pilot, meanwhile, changed his profile on Twitter deleting all references to his position as deputy CM and Rajasthan Congress chief. He only described himself as MLA of Tonk and a former Minister of IT, Telecom & Corporate affairs, Government of India.

“Truth can be rattled, not defeated,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.