The Congress has tried to convey a tough message to its legislators in Rajasthan that the party comes first and there should be no statements and no interviews to the media from anyone.
The Congress Legislature Party meet was convened on Thursday at the Chief Minister’s residence where rival leaders Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot were present.
Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal said in a video that “Forget the nightmare of the last 30 days and work together for the people of Rajasthan. We have done a lot of post-mortem but from now on no words, no interviews and no statements. This is the message of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. They told me to convey this.”
Venugopal said that “the party has to come first and if the party is not there then nobody will be there so everybody has to work with unity. It is time for unity and everybody should work together.”
He also praised the state government for its work towards Covid management.
Gehlot and Pilot met before the CLP meeting at Gehlot’s house. At the meeting, Gehlot gave a call to forget the past, saying, “Apne to apne hote hain’. We could have proved the majority on the floor of the House even without these 19 MLAs, but then there would have been no happiness around.”
Gehlot further said, “We will move the confidence motion ourselves. We shall also resolve the grievances of our MLAs who are upset with us.”
The BJP on Thursday announced that it will move a no-confidence motion against the Gehlot government when the special Assembly session commences on Friday.
Venugopal, who was present at the meeting, tweeted: “There is no substitute for truth and integrity. The bonds of friendship & ideology are unbreakable, they will stand the test of time & reinvigorate the party. The direction & leadership of Hon’ble Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi & Shri Rahul Gandhi ensured this bond gets stronger.”
Earlier in the day, suspension of two MLAs – Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh, who had pledged loyalty to the Pilot camp, was revoked. They were suspended after being charged with alleged horse-trading to topple the government.
Gehlot also tweeted in the afternoon saying, “Our priority should be to save democracy with the feeling of forgive and forget. The conspiracy being followed in the states to topple the elected governments one by one in Karnataka, MP and Arunachal Pradesh by misusing the ED, CBI, Income Tax, judiciary etc. will weaken democracy.”
