Hectic parleys on as Congress leaders try to broker peace in Rajasthan

Rahul, Priyanka, senior Congress leaders reach out to Sachin Pilot

PTI22-05-2020_000152B The party leadership is learnt to be keen that Sachin Pilot goes back to Jaipur | PTI

Hectic efforts are said to be on to broker peace in Rajasthan Congress, with leaders, including former party chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra learnt to have reached out to Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, who has raised the banner of revolt against the Ashok Gehlot government, in a bid to work out a compromise formula.

With the Congress in the state engulfed in a deep crisis as Pilot stayed away from Jaipur and claimed the support of 30 MLAs, the party leadership, keen to not have a repeat of Madhya Pradesh, where three months ago the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia resulted in the fall of the Kamal Nath government, has reached out to the young leader.

It is learnt that Rahul and Priyanka, as also eminent members of the Congress Working Committee, including Ahmed Patel and K.C. Venugopal, have spoken to Pilot, representing an outreach spanning the old guard and the younger leadership.

The party leadership is learnt to be keen that Pilot goes back to Jaipur. They assured him that his grievances would be dealt with. Amongst Pilot's grievances are that his associates have not been given adequate representation in the Gehlot government and that the chief minister has cornered the important departments, including that of home and finance. The last straw for Pilot was the summons to record a statement from the Special Operations Group probing the charges that the BJP was trying to lure Congress MLAs and destabilise the Gehlot regime.

Earlier, AICC Communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala, who has been sent to Jaipur by the Congress's central leadership to try and resolve the crisis in the state unit, said senior leaders were in contact with Pilot and it would be wrong to say that he has rebelled against the party.

Surjewala, who is said to enjoy a good equation with Pilot, said that over the last 48-72 hours, the Congress leadership has spoken to Pilot a number of times and discussed the political situation with him.

He said AICC General Secretary-Organisation K.C. Venugopal and other leaders have been in touch with Pilot. “Doors of the Congress were, are, and will always remain open for Sachin Pilot to come and hold discussions, but personal ambitions of the leaders will not be allowed to destroy the party. If anyone, be at any post or profile, has any problem, they must come forward and mention the issue on the party forum. We will work to resolve it together and keep our government intact in the state,” he told reporters.