India / Who doesn't want CM post: Rajasthan CM Gehlot on Sachin Pilot

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday played down reports that put spotlight on deputy CM Sachin Pilot in alleged attempts made to topple the Congress government.

The special operations group (SOG) of Rajasthan police on Friday filed a FIR against two persons and detained them after their calls were intercepted, hinting that attempts were being made to topple the government. According to a report in The Indian Express which cited the FIR, the conversation mentions that the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister are having a fight; “in such a situation, the ruling party MLAs and independent MLAs can be broken away to topple the government and a new CM will be put in place”.

It was during this call Sachin Pilot’s reference was made. “But BJP says that CM will be our person and Deputy CM will be made a minister in the Central government while the Deputy CM says that he will be the CM – this has also appeared in the conversations,” the FIR states.

When Ashok Gehlot was asked if Sachin Pilot wants to be the Chief Minister, he didn’t answer directly and went on to claim that there are many talented leaders in the Congress who are capable of running a government.

“Who doesn’t want to be Chief Minister? In our side, there will be 5-7 candidates who are capable & talented but only one person can be CM. When one becomes CM, everyone else goes quiet,” he said.

Speaking about the charge made by 24 Congress MLAs that the BJP leadership is involved in hatching a conspiracy to topple the government, he said, “Whether it is Satish Poonia or Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, they are playing games to topple our government at the behest of their central leadership. They are offering Rs 10 crore in advance and Rs 15 crore after the government is toppled… these are the kind of promises they are making.”

He also referred to the BJP’s “Congress Mukt Bharat” slogan and said, “but now they are afraid of Congress”.

Gehlot claimed that the Congress government in Rajasthan is stable and it will complete its full term. “We are engaged in preparations to win the next election.”

“We must focus on fighting coronavirus and that is what we are doing but they (BJP) are trying to de-stabilise the government. It wasn’t so during Vajpayee ji’s time but after 2014 there is pride and division on basis of religion,” he added.

Gehlot’s remak comes in the wake of a joint statement issued by 24 Congress MLAs wherein they said the BJP leadership is trying to ‘mislead the Congress and supporting party MLAs by contacting and luring them in different manners”.

Meanwhile, the SOG has issued notices to Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot to record their statement in connection with the alleged attempts to topple their Congress government. Also, government chief whip Mahesh Joshi has been asked to record his statement in connection with the case.

Earlier on Friday, the SOG registered an FIR against two people, now under detention, for their alleged involvement in attempts of horse trading of Congress MLAs and destabilise the Ashok Gehlot government.