A day after going on hunger strike as a mark of protest against the Ashok Gehlot-led government for inaction over the alleged corruption by the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government, Congress leader Sachin Pilot arrived in Delhi to meet senior party leaders.
Meanwhile, CM Gehlot, who has so far maintained his silence on Pilot’s protest, has called for a press conference at 1:30 pm on Wednesday, 12 April. This may then be the first time since Pilot’s public attack on Gehlot last Sunday, that the CM addresses the allegations.
Pilot held a one-day fast at Jaipur’s Shahid Smarak, in front of a massive banner which had an image of Mahatma Gandhi and text that read 'Vasundhara Sarkar Mein Huey Bhrashtachar Ke Virudh' (Protest against corruption under the Vasundhara government). There was no reference to CM Gehlot in the banner. Notably, all Congress symbols were absent at the protest.
While making brief remarks to the media, Pilot reiterated what he had earlier said in the press conference, about wanting the Congress to take action against the Vasundhara Raje-led government over allegations of corruption. Gehlot, on Tuesday, launched a ‘Mehangai Rahat Camp’, which he spoke about briefly in a video uploaded on his Twitter account. In the video, Gehlot pegged the upcoming 2023 state elections to be fought on governance matters, and referred to himself as a “common man’s CM.”
Pilot's Allegations
Pilot had gone ahead with his protest on Tuesday despite a warning from Congress' Rajasthan unit incharge Sukhjinder Randhawa that such a move would be considered "anti-party activity."
"Sachin Pilot's day-long fast on Tuesday is against the party interests and is anti-party activity. If there is any issue with his own government, it can be discussed in the party forums instead of in the media and public," Randhawa had said in a statement on Monday.
This came after Pilot’s press conference on Sunday where he had claimed that he wrote to CM Gehlot twice on the matter, but did not receive a response.
"I think we should walk the talk and I wrote to Gehlot ji almost 1.5 years ago that it is time to probe the allegations that we levelled against the BJP government. The Congress should show to the people that there is no gap between our words and action," Pilot had said.
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