–The Newsweb Special Correspondent
TNW, New Delhi, July 16: Even as chief minister Ashok Gehlot on July 15 cracked whip and he sacked his deputy Sachin Pilot from the post, the Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi showed no sign of softness towards the latter as power struggle in Rajasthan reaches court. Addressing a meeting of National Students Union of India Rahul on July 15 made it amply clear that those who want to leave the party can do so.
It would pave the way for the young leaders to come up, he told the students’ wing of his party. On the other hand the party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who is in touch with Pilot has once made an offer to the latter, who has also been removed from the post of Rajasthan unit president of the party.
According to the political observers, the Congress leadership were initially keen to placate Sachin Pilot but the party later realised that his denial to join the BJP is just a tactics of buying time, so that he can cobbled up the number to pull down the government.
The fact that rebel MLA’s were kept in Haryana, where BJP is in power, has further indicated how far Sachin Pilot went in the hobnobbing with the Saffron Party. Then, the news came that former Attorney General Mukul Rahtogi who was elevated to the office by BJP will represent Pilot against the speaker’s disqualification notice issued to him and other rebels, further confirmed his motives.
The stern step taken by Gehlot and the party appear to have pushed the rebels in the corner and reports on July 16 said that at least three of them had made up their mind to return to the Congress fold.
Earlier, Gehlot directly blamed the rebels of playing into the hands of the saffron party. Sources confirmed that Gehlot wants to shrink the space for Pilot so that he could be pushed out of the party. With the passing of each day Gehlot seems to have been emerging powerful and the rebels seem to have been losing the battle.
If this happens than it would be the second political defeat for the BJP in less than a month–the first time at the time of the election for the Upper House of Parliament itself.
