Notably, the situation in Rajasthan has eerie callbacks to the crisis in Madhya Pradesh Congress months ago.
Former Congress politico, currently a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday chipped in on the political crisis in Rajasthan by commenting that he was sad to see to his 'erstwhile colleague' Sachin Pilot being 'sidelined' by the Ashok Gehlot-led government. "Shows that talent and capability find little credence in the Congress," mentioned the renegade leader who had recently moved over to the BJP from Congress.
"Sad to see my erstwhile colleague, Sachin Pilot too, being sidelined and persecuted by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Shows that talent and capability find little credence in the Congress," tweeted Scindia from his official handle on microblogging website Twitter.
Scindia's comments come as the rift within the Congress party deepens, fuelled by reports of alleged rivalry between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Depuy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot.
Notably, the situation in Rajasthan has eerie callbacks to the crisis in Madhya Pradesh Congress months ago. Even though Jyotirdatiya Scindia had remained a loyal and veteran leader for the grand old party in Madhya Pradesh for the longest time, it was rumoured that Scindia was never going to be the first preference for the Congress in the elections to the Rajya Sabha seats. This, coupled with the fact that Congress central leadership chose veteran leader Kamal Nath over Scindia as Chief Minister of the state fueled rumours that there was a rift within Madhya Pradesh Congress. There were reports of alleged infighting and rumours that Scindia was feeling "ignored" within the grand old party.
Finally, the straw broke and Scindia switched sides over to the saffron camp in March, earlier this year.
According to reports, Scindia had been sulking for a long time as he was neither assured of a Rajya Sabha berth nor made the state Congress unit chief, a position that is still held by Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
Now, 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.
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.
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.
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 "BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia")
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