Rajasthan: Cong drops Pilot, two other ministers

Jaipur/New Delhi, Jul 14,2020: The Congress party on Tuesday removed its Rajasthan leader and deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot from all posts on the charges of ‘anti-party’ activities.
Also, two state cabinet ministers Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena, said to be Mr Pilot’s loyalists, were also dropped.
The decision was taken after Mr Pilot along with others leaders gave Congress Legislature Party’s (CLP) meeting in Jaipur a miss. The meeting was called to discuss frictions between the camps of Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with an open invitation to the former.
Mr Pilot along with others remained cemented in Delhi, 280 km away from the pink city. They missed the meeting on Monday as well.
Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra replaced Mr Pilot as new Congress party chief for Rajasthan. However, no one was appointed deputy chief minister.
Mr Gehlot in the evening met State Governor Kalraj Mishra and presented the proposal of sacking the three leaders from the Congress party which was accepted.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surejewala told mediapersons in Jaipur, “Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and several other leaders spoke to Mr Pilot several times. We appealed to him time and again and assured him of solving all issues. I am sad that he and some of his colleagues have fallen for a trap laid by the BJP…This is unacceptable.”
Reacting on his removal, Mr Pilot said he was being humiliated and his supporters were extremely hurt.
“Truth can be rattled but not defeated,” he wrote in Hindi on his twitter handle.
However, Mr Gehlot while speaking to mediapersons said the decision to sack Mr Pilot and two other cabinet ministers was not taken by him but Congress high command.
On Monday, a resolution was passed by the CLP for a disciplinary action against anyone involved in anti-party activities.
In the 200-member State Assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs, while the BJP 72. The ruling party has the support of one Rashtyia Lok Dal, two Communist Party of India (Marxist), two Bharatiya Tribal Party MLAs and 13 Independents.