Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Tuesday announced that he will undertake a padayatra from Ajmer to Jaipur starting on May 11 to take up people's issues. The announcement marks an intensification of the tussle for power between Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and is seen as Pilot's counter to Gehlot's allegations against his own party's MLAs with regard to purported efforts to topple his government in 2020.
Pilot, at a press conference at his Jaipur residence, announced that he will undertake the Jan Sangharsh Yatra—125-km-long padayatra from Ajmer to the state capital—over paper leak in competitive exams, corruption and other people's issues. He linked the decision to the Gehlot government's inaction with regard to his demand for action on issues such as the alleged corruption during the erstwhile Vasundhara Raje government or exam paper leak.
The announcement comes in the backdrop of Gehlot's speech at a recent event in Dholpur, Raje's stronghold, where he alleged that party MLAs had taken money from the BJP to topple his government in 2020 and said Raje had opposed the move. The obvious reference was to the rebellion mounted by Pilot and his supporters against Gehlot in July 2020.
Pilot strongly rejected the allegations made by Gehlot, saying they were baseless and false, and attacked him by saying, “After hearing the speech in Dholpur, it became clear that the chief minister does not consider hon'ble Sonia Gandhi ji as his leader but his leader is Vasundhara Raje Scindia ji.”
He admitted that he and other MLAs had gone to Delhi in 2020 seeking a leadership change in the state government. He said he and the group of legislators that had sought a leadership change in the state had not violated party discipline in the last two-and-a-half years and had in fact worked hard to strengthen the party.
“I was called many things – Corona, Gaddar (traitor), Nikamma (useless). But I never crossed my limits. I did not respond because I did not want to cause any harm to the image of the government,”Pilot said.
He hit back at Gehlot with regard to the allegations he made about MLAs having taken money from the BJP to bring down his government, saying it was for the first time that a leader had spoken against his own government and legislators and praised the BJP.
“I reject these baseless and false allegations. If there is any truth in the allegations, why was no action taken against the MLAs for there years,” he said.
He further said, “People whose political career is based on money power see money angle everywhere.”
Linking the decision to go on a padayatra with Gehlot's allegations, he said, “Character assassination was done from a public platform. Now, people will give a befitting reply.”
In another strident attack on Gehlot, Pilot said the act of not allowing the meeting of the legislature party to take place on September 25 and forcing MLAs to tender their resignation was in fact an act of betrayal.
“The sequence of events make it clear as to who is guilty of indiscipline and who is working to strengthen the party and the government and who is making them weak,” Pilot said.
He said for the past one-and-a-half years, he has been writing to Gehlot, seeking action on the alleged corruption in the former Raje government, and even sat on a day-long Anshan on April 11 to press for action.
Taking a potshot at Gehlot over his Dholpur speech where he said Raje helped save his government in 2020, Pilot said, “When I heard the speech in Dholpur, I understood why no action was taken against Vasundhara Raje.”
