Srinagar: Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, who earlier refused to attend a key meeting of Congress MLAs called by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today in Jaipur, said that he is not joining the opposition Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).
Pilot’s comments came amid the reports of his likely meeting with BJP chief JP Nadda today. “Not joining the BJP,” a Delhi based news agency NDTV quoted him as saying.
Earlier in a day, Pilot who claims the support of 30 MLAs, refused to attend a key meeting of Congress MLAs called by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today indicating that he might be the next to exit the party after Jyotiraditya Scindia did in Madhya Pradesh.
Pilot according to the reports, stated that the Ashok Gehlot government has turned into a minority because 30 Congress MLAs and other independent MLAs have offered their support to him.
On the other hand, Ashok Gehlot in a meeting claimed that 109 MLAs are supporting him and his governance led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. MLAs who were not present in the meeting got in touch via a telephonic conversation stating that they’d sign the letter of support till morning.
The MLAs who claimed to be the “loyalists” of Pilot, explicitly expressed their support for the Gehlot government via media, claiming that that their trip to Delhi was “personal.” This aggravated the situation even more as Sachin Pilot called this “humiliation” of his supporters.
With the clash between BJP and Congress, congress stated that Madhya Pradesh situation would not take place again while BJP offered Sachin Pilot the post of Chief Minister.
However, at a press conference led by Randeep Singh Surjewala, there were repeated comments on making nice with Pilot. “Talk to us,” Surjewala, deputed to Jaipur from Delhi to handle the crisis, urged, NDTV reported.
He also relayed a message from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi – “Our doors are open.”
Gandhi and her son, Rahul, have not met with Pilot who arrived in Delhi on Saturday, but they have been in regular touch with him, Surjewala said, expressing the hope that differences will be resolved “at a party forum.”
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