'PM Modi's praise shouldn't be taken lightly': Sachin Pilot's veiled dig at Ashok Gehlot

In what appears to be a veiled attack against rival Ashok Gehlot, Congress leader Sachin Pilot demanded action against the Rajasthan MLAs who threatened to resign in September. He suggested the party must send notices to the MLAs for indiscipline. He also took a potshot at Gehlot saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi's praise for the CM mustn't be taken lightly.

"...I find the heaps of praise by PM Modi very interesting. PM had similarly praised GN Azad in Parliament. We saw what happened after that. It was an interesting development. Shouldn't be taken lightly...," he said. 

PM Modi and Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday shared the stage in Rajasthan's Banswara. He said he had worked with Gehlot as a chief minister and he was the senior-most CM at the time. He said Gehlot was still the senior most politician on the stage. 

Scores of Congress MLAs had threatened to resign after Gehlot agreed to contest the party's internal polls, fearing Pilot may be installed as the Rajasthan Chief Minister. This was after the party leadership said all leaders will have to adhere to the 'one man, one post' rule devised last year.

Gehlot later withdrew his consent and retained his Chief Ministership, for which he and Pilot have been locked in a power tussle since 2018.

Pilot said 13 months were left for the assembly elections in Rajasthan and the party leadership must take action. He said he hoped Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would take a decision on the matter soon.

Notices were issued to Rajasthan parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal, chief whip and PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi, and RTDC chairman Dharmendra Rathore after MLAs of the Ashok Gehlot camp skipped a CLP meeting of September 25 and held a parallel one at Dhariwal's residence against any move by the party to make Sachin Pilot the new chief minister.

Gehlot had apologized to the party high command for the meeting.

Gehlot and Pilot have been making public attacks on each other since the latter presided over a failed coup in 2020.

Also read: ‘No one will be spared’: Ashok Gehlot on alleged girls' auction in Rajasthan

Taking action against Pilot, the party removed him as the deputy chief minister and the Rajasthan Congress chief. 

Pilot claims he revived the beleaguered party in Rajasthan leading to victory in 2018. However, since a majority of MLAs were in Gehlot's favour, he was forced to accept the Deputy CM position.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, a former Gandhi loyalist, resigned earlier this year after writing an explosive letter to Sonia Gandhi in which he called Rahul Gandhi "immature". He also accused the former Congress chief of running the party by remote control.