The Congress in Rajasthan is on the verge of a complete disarray as rebel leader Sachin Pilot was sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and removed as state party chief after he skipped a second meeting of MLAs Tuesday.
Two ministers who have joined him in his revolt have also been removed. Sachin Pilot was “ensnared” by the BJP to bring down the Congress government in Rajasthan, said the party. Sachin Pilot, whose demands reportedly included Chief Ministership, had been asked to attend the meeting before the leadership could deliberate on discussions with him. But he rejected all overtures and his exit from the Congress looked inevitable from that point.
The second Congress legislature party meeting comes as one of the several attempts by the Congress leaders to save the government from collapsing, just months after it lost the Madhya Pradesh in similar fashion. The attempts have, so far, fell flat as Sachin Pilot remains defiant, claming the Ashok Gehlot government is in minority. Ashok Gehlot, however, claims to have the support of 102 MLAs, a comfortable majority in a 200-member Assembly.
PNN/Agencies