Not going to join BJP, says Sachin Pilot, after saffron party's welcoming posture

He said there were attempts to link him with the party

20-Sachin-Pilot Sachin Pilot | Sanjay Ahlawat

Dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot assured the public that he was "not going to join the BJP", hours after Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot accused him of "playing into BJP's hands". Pilot said there were attempts to malign him by linking him to the BJP. His statement was given to multiple media outlets, as a scheduled press conference was deferred.

Pilot is now stuck firmly in the middle, and all eyes are on his next move. The Congress had cracked down on Pilot, stripping him of the posts of Rajasthan's deputy chief minister and the party's state unit president, and sacking two loyalists from the state Cabinet. Ministers Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena, considered Pilot supporters, were also removed from the Cabinet after a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, its second in the last two days.

The BJP, meanwhile, has adopted a careful welcoming position, saying their party's doors are open for anybody who expresses trust in its ideology. "If anybody with a mass base joins the BJP or any political party, everybody welcomes him. Expressing trust in our ideology, if anybody joins us we will welcome him with open arms. This is a normal procedure," Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat told reporters.

Gehlot had been working on this plan for over six months and "succeeded" with the ouster of Pilot from his government, he claimed.

Another BJP leader, P.P. Chaudhary, echoed Shekhawat and said the Congress government in the state has been reduced to a minority. A young leader has been marginalised in the Congress as the party has no place for young faces, he said about Pilot. "So many people joining Sachin is a big thing, and I believe more will join him. BJP's doors are open for everybody if he believes in our ideology. If Sachin Pilot joins us, I don't think there will be any problem. Our national leadership, though, will take the final call," he said.   

In the 200-member assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs and the BJP 72, with Gehlot claiming support of several independent and other parties' MLAs as well. Pilot's camp has claimed that he enjoys support of around 30 MLAs.