Pilot's 'law and order' comment drives rift in Raj Cong

All is not well in Rajasthan Congress! An internal rift between the ruling party's Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has come out in public after the former accepted deteriorating law and order situation in the state and said that the government needs to do more.

In an apparent jibe at Chief Minister Gehlot who also holds the portfolio of Home Minister, Pilot said on Wednesday that the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state and government needs to do more to strengthen the situation. "I accept that we should pay more attention to law and order. A lot of incidents related to crime have increased in the recent past," he said.

He was hinting at recent jailbreak in Alwar, child-related crime and disturbances in the name of communalism.

Pilot's statement comes after BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria questioned the government on law and order situation. The BJP has been criticising the state government for poor law and order in the state. “The women in our house should remain safe and secure. And the government should focus on law and order. The women in the state don't look safe at all", Kataria told media.

Pilot also met UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and discussed the state of affairs in Rajasthan. After his one on one meeting with Gandhi got over, Pilot told reporters: "We discussed issues in Rajasthan and law and order of the state was also discussed".

Pilot's statement has given wings to the rumours in the political corridors that suggest that after Madhya Pradesh where the party appears to be divided into two different camps, the trouble seems to be growing in Rajasthan as well.

As per the police department data, in the last eight months in Rajasthan, after the Congress took over, there is a 67% rise in crimes against women as compared to the same period last year. The total number of cases registered between January and July is 25,420 as compared to 15,242 cases registered during the initial eight months in 2019.