AICC panel to look into issues raised by Sachin Pilot, says Congress

Exactly a month after Sachin Pilot and his supporting MLAs headed to Delhi, putting the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan in a lurch, there now appears to be a retracing of steps by the rebellious former deputy chief minister and a reconciliation seems imminent ahead of the crucial assembly session scheduled to begin on August 14. Pilot had a meeting with ex-party chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Rahul's official residence at 12, Tughlaq Road around 12:30 pm on Monday. Shortly after this meeting, Rahul and Priyanka headed to 10, Janpath to meet interim party chief Sonia Gandhi. Later in the day, AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal issued a statement, saying Sonia Gandhi has decided to form a three-member committee to address the issues raised by Pilot. He said Rahul, Priyanka and Pilot have had a “frank, open and conclusive” discussion and that Pilot has committed to working in the interest of the government in Rajasthan. “Following this meeting, Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi has decided that the AICC will constitute a three-member committee to address the issues raised by Shri Sachin Pilot and the aggrieved MLAs and arrive at an appropriate resolution thereof,” the statement said. It is learnt that back channel talks had been going on with Pilot, with Venugopal and party treasurer Ahmed Patel playing the key interlocutors. Also, there was a sign of a reconciliatory effort on the part of the Gehlot government as the charges of sedition were withdrawn against the rebels in connection with the case pertaining to alleged attempts being made to buy MLAs and topple the government. The chief minister also interestingly made a statement that he would welcome back the rebels if the party high command forgave them, which was seen as a huge climbdown from his allegations against Pilot that he was working in collusion with the BJP and was personally involved in horse-trading. However, Gehlot's supporting MLAs have demanded action against Pilot and the other rebel MLAs, saying the party high command needs to send across a strong message against any attempts to blackmail the leadership. The reasons for Pilot piping down his rebellion are not clear. However, it is learnt that some MLAs from the Pilot camp were growing wary of how the situation was developing and were keen to return to the party fold. Also, the BJP was not appearing to be particularly keen on playing an active role in toppling the Gehlot government, possibly because of the resistance to such an endeavour by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje. Pilot had been adamant on a leadership change in the state and had said he was forced to go on the warpath since the issue was now about his dignity, especially after the filing of an FIR in the alleged efforts to topple the government and the summons served on him by the Special Operations Group to record his statement in connection with the case. As Pilot and the other rebel MLAs failed to turn up at two consecutive Congress Legislature Party meetings, the party acted sternly against him, removing him from the posts of both deputy chief minister and state Congress president. Meanwhile, amidst speculation on the truce formula being worked out, Rajasthan PCC chief Govind Dotasra made it clear that there would be no leadership change in the state. “There is no such thing or discussion on change in leadership. It is a fake and hollow rumour. Ashok Gehlot is the chief minister and he will remain so for five years,” Dotasra said.

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