Congress delays Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur, appeals to Sachin Pilot again

Ahead of the meeting if its Legislature Party in Jaipur, Congress on Tuesday made a fresh appeal to its rebel Rajasthan unit chief Sachin Pilot and his supporters to join the proceedings.

The CLP meeting scheduled for 10:00 am on Tuesday has also been delayed by an hour to allow Pilot and his supporters to reach out to the party leadership.

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The appeal by AICC General Secretary Avinash Pande came as part of efforts by the top Congress leadership to reach out to Pilot, who has rebelled accusing Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of giving him short shrift in the party and administrative affairs in the state.

Also read — Not joining BJP, says Sachin Pilot as crisis brews in Rajasthan

The top Congress leadership including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram, K C Venugopal, have reached out to Pilot, but to no avail.

"I appeal to Sachin Pilot and MLAs supporting him to join the CLP meeting. Please ensure your presence and reaffirm your faith in the values and ideology of the Congress and strengthen the hands of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," Pande said.

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Pilot and about 16 MLAs supporting him remained ensconced at a resort in Gurugram and were in no mood to attend the CLP meeting.