‘No conflict in Rajasthan’: Congress MP KC Venugopal on Gehlot-Pilot showdown

Dismissing speculations of a rift between Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, party general secretary KC Venugopal on Friday said that there was ‘no conflict in Rajasthan’. Fresh flames were ignited between the two Rajasthan Congress leaders when Gehlot termed Pilot as a ‘gaddar’ or traitor during an interview with a news channel.

“There is no conflict in Rajasthan. The party will show the strength of the Rajasthan Congress through Bharat Jodo Yatra,” Venugopal, also a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Gehlot called Pilot a traitor multiple times throughout the interview with NDTV for ‘betraying’ the party and not apologising to the party's high command over the 2020 revolt. “A gaddar cannot be Chief Minister,” he said.

Earlier in June, Gehlot had also accused Pilot of being in connivance with the Bharatiya Janata Party to topple his government.

Also Read | Internal tussle: Rumblings in Rajasthan Congress after CM Gehlot attacks Pilot

Responding to the remarks, Pilot said, “Ashok Gehlot called me nakara, gaddar... they are baseless allegations. There is no need for it.” The 45-year-old leader called it the “unbecoming for such a senior leader” like Gehlot to say such things at a time they are trying to put up a united fight against the BJP.

The Rajasthan CM's comments come days after Vijay Singh Bainsla, the Gurjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti leader, threatened to oppose Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra in when it enters the state unless his demands – that included making Pilot, a prominent face from the Gurjar community, the chief minister – are accepted.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Congress senior leader Jairam Ramesh called for resolution of differences between warring leaders Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot. “Shri Ashok Gehlot is a senior and experienced political leader. Whatever differences he has expressed with his younger colleague Shri Sachin Pilot will be resolved in a manner that strengthens the Congress Party,” he said at a presser.

In 2020, Pilot along with his supporters had staged a dharna against the veteran leader outside the Raj Bhavan before moving to Haryana. The rebellion had come in the months following a similar coup in Madhya Pradesh that had resulted in the fall of the Kamal Nath government.