Ashok Gehlot recalls 2020 revolt led by Sachin Pilot: ‘They tried to topple my govt’

Rajastha chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday recalled the 2020 revolt against him, saying those behind it ‘did not know who they were dealing with’.

While campaigning in his constituency Sardarpura in Jodhpur, which the 72-year-old politician has represented since 1998, Gehlot said he has been the chief minister of the state thrice and has completed all the three terms.

"It is not just that I completed all these three terms... they tried to topple my government this time but they failed. They thought that they would succeed here as well, but they had no idea who they were dealing with” the chief minister was quoted by PTI as saying.

Gehlot vs Pilot showdowns

In July 2020, Gehlot's then deputy Sachin Pilot along with 18 MLAs had revolted against him by staging a sit-in protest outside the Raj Bhavan. The Congress, which saw losing its government in Madhya Pradesh, months before, managed to defuse the rebellion due to timely intervention of the Gandhi family. Pilot was then removed as the deputy chief minister and state Congress president.

But the relations between Pilot and Gehlot largely remained strained throughout the government's tenure. Last November, the chief minister had carried out his biggest verbal attack on Pilot, calling him a ‘traitor’.

“A gaddar (traitor) cannot be chief minister... the Congress high command cannot make Sachin Pilot the chief minister... a man who doesn't have 10 MLAs. Who revolted. He betrayed the party, (he) is a traitor", Gehlot had said in an interview to a TV channel.

In April this year, Pilot cornered his own government by holding a day-long fast in Jaipur. He alleged that the Gehlot dispensation failed to probe cases of alleged corruption during the Bharatiya Janata Party rule in Rajasthan.

The desert state goes to poll in a single phase election on November 25. The counting of votes will take place on December 3.