India / Worried for our party: Kapil Sibal amid Rajasthan political crisis

New Delhi: A day after it emerged that the Rajasthan government might be on shaky ground due to an internal feud, senior leader Kapil Sibal was the first from within the Congress to publicly acknowledge the crisis saying he was worried for the party.

Seeking a quick resolution of the “crisis”, he asked when would the party leadership “wake up”. “Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables,” he said on Twitter.

The Congress, which had lost Jyotiraditya Scindia and Madhya Pradesh to the BJP after a similar long-drawn battle between the old guard and the new, claim that there is no threat to the Rajasthan government.

Reports of a coup were reignited after the state police, which arrested two BJP members for allegedly trying to lure away Congress and Independent MLAs with offers of Rs 20-25 crore each, lodged an FIR stating phone taps mentioned how the “Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister are having a fight” and “Deputy CM says that he will be the CM” – a reference to the power tussle within the ruling Congress between Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.

Senior police officers said statements of both the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister will be recorded in the matter.

Sachin Pilot, who also heads the Congress in Rajasthan, is in Delhi. On Pilot visiting Delhi, the persons in the conversation, according to the FIR, said “big political decisions are being taken in Delhi and things will move quickly after June 30… that’s when his stars will shine and he will take oath 5-10 days later”.

Addressing a press conference from his residence, Gehlot attacked the BJP, saying its leaders “have crossed all limits of humanity” during the pandemic and were playing “a game” on instructions from their central leadership. He also took a swipe at Pilot, reigniting the debate within the Congress. “Who doesn’t want to be CM? We too may have 5-7 people who may be contenders for CM and may also have the capability and talent. But only one can be CM. And then, after that everyone calms down,” he said while responding to a question.

Earlier in June, Gehlot had targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over alleged attempts to destabilise the state government during a pandemic.