In a possible thaw to the Rajasthan political crisis, Congress rebel Sachin Pilot met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday.
According to sources, the meeting which took place at the residence of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi around noon was successful and could lead to a possible turnaround.
Pilot, former Deputy chief minister and state unit chief, and his supporters were assured by the central Congress leadership that all their differences with the Rajasthan government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot would be addressed and resolved by the party.
The timing of the meet, which comes days ahead of the Assembly session of the Rajasthan Assembly on August 14, suggests that the issue of Pilot camp MLAs voting for the Gehlot government in case of a trust vote was also discussed.
Pilot had met senior leaders of the party on Sunday, following which a meeting with Rahul Gandhi had been fixed.
During the course of the meeting, the former deputy CM said that his opposition was to Gehlot and not against the party.
After the meeting, it was decided that he will meet senior leaders shortly and a committee will be formed for resolving the issues raised by the Pilot camp.
Later during the day, rebel Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma met Gehlot in Jaipur. A seventh term MLA, Sharma is a lead figure of team Pilot.
Sharma spoke of Congress as a family after meeting Gehlot.
“I met him. Party is like a family & Ashok Gehlot is its head. If someone gets upset in a family then they don’t take food. So I expressed my unhappiness for a month. Now I don’t have any resentment anymore. Party will fulfill all the promises made to people,” Sharma said.
“There was no camp, nobody was a captive. Bhanwar Lal can never be a captive. I went there willingly, I have come here willingly,” he added.
Pilot was removed as the Deputy Chief Minister and as the state chief of the party on July 14 after his open rebellion. Pilot was reportedly miffed after a Special Operation Group of the Rajasthan Police sent him a notice to record his statement in a case of alleged poaching of Congress MLAs in the state.
The Congress has accused the BJP of indulging in horse-trading to bring down the Gehlot government. However, the BJP has rejected the allegations.
(With ANI inputs)
Source: dnaindia.com