Rajasthan: Time to forgive, forget, says Ashok Gehlot; meets Sachin Pilot

After a month-long stand-off that had pushed the Rajasthan government to the brink of collapse, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his arch-rival Sachin Pilot were together again, just in time for the state assembly session beginning on Friday.

Pilot and Gehlot came face-to-face for the first time since the crisis unfolded on July 13 at the chief minister’s residence in Jaipur at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party ahead of the assembly session, where BJP is expected to bring no-trust motion against the government.

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“Whatever misunderstanding occurred in the party in the last one month, we need to forgive & forget in the interest of the country, state, people & in the interest of democracy,” Gehlot had said earlier in the day.

“Everything went on well. Now that the Congress family is united, we will fight against BJP's bad politics. Tomorrow in Vidhan Sabha Congress party will stand unitedly,” KC Venugopal, AICC General Secretary (organisation), told reporters in Jaipur after the CLP meeting.

However, the fragility of the truce between Gehlot and Pilot were visible as the chief minister interacted with the media.

“We could have proven our majority even without these 19 MLAs but it would not have given us happiness. We will move a trust vote in the House,” Gehlot said. His obvious reference was to Pilot and 18 MLAs who had rebelled against his leadership.

Earlier, Congress revoked the suspension of Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh, former ministers and Pilot supporters. They were suspended from the party after an audio recording of their purported conversation on toppling the Gehlot government surfaced last month.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria said the BJP will move a no-confidence motion on Friday.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje said the Gehlot government would not last long.

“This government won’t last long,” she said after the meeting of the BJP Legislature Party.