Rajasthan Political Crisis: Here's all you need to know about the Ashok Gehlot-Sachin Pilot rift

Rajasthan is witnessing swift political developments that have alarmed the ruling Congress party in the state. While the party is appearing to be in deep trouble after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused BJP of trying to topple his government, Congress General Secretary In-Charge of Rajasthan, Avinash Pandey has submitted a report to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi that mentions there is some resentment of the MLAs that will be taken care of.

Speculations are rife that Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot is unhappy with Gehlot, especially after the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan sent a notice to Pilot seeking his availability for recording his statement in connection with alleged attempts to destabilise state government.

So where is this resentment stemming from? Let's have an in-depth look at the situation in the state.

In the report, Pandey added that Pilot is also angry because he is afraid of losing the post of Rajasthan Congress president. It may be noted that Pilot has been Rajasthan Congress president since 2014 and the 2018 assembly elections were fought under his leadership.

However, Congress decided to appoint Gehlot as the chief minister. The decision upset Pilot, who played a crucial role in reviving the party following its worst defeat in the state in the 2013 state assembly elections.

As mentioned earlier, the latest in the series of political tensions in the state seems to have been triggered by machinations over alleged horse-trading of legislators. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who also heads the Rajasthan Home Ministry and thus law and order in the state, has repeatedly accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of offering crores to Congress MPs in an effort to destabilise the Congress government run by him.

Hours after Congress leader Mahesh Joshi accused the BJP of trying to poach MLAs of the ruling party in Rajasthan, the Special Operations Group (SOG) on Saturday arrested two persons in connection with alleged attempts to destabilise state government.

Identified as Bharat Malani and Ashok Singh, the two are being interrogated for allegedly offering a sum of Rs 20-25 crores to around two dozen Congress MLAs in an attempt to make them switch sides.

Amid these accusations of poaching legislators, Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has gone incommunicado ever since the Chief Minister launched a fresh salvo against the BJP. According to reports, Pilot has not been responding to either the central leadership or the local leaders' calls or attempts to communicate.

During his press conference, Gehlot had without naming Sachin Pilot said that there are 5-7 chief ministerial candidates in Rajasthan but when the grand old party's central leadership comes to a decision, it needs to be followed.

When asked if his deputy -- Sachin Pilot -- wants to become Chief Minister, Gehlot said, "Who doesn`t want to be Chief Minister? On our side, there will be 5-7 candidates who are capable and talented. But only one person can be the Chief Minister. When one leader becomes the Chief Minister, everyone else goes quiet."

Sachin Pilot is considered to have played a crucial role in reviving the party following its worst defeat in the state in the 2013 state assembly elections. The 2018 assembly polls were fought under his command, and the party managed to seize power in the state following the win in the assembly elections.

However, he was not given the post of the Chief Minister and the party's leadership mandated him the post of the Deputy Chief Minister, while he remained the Rajasthan Congress president.