Happy Ending: Gehlot meets Pilot with handshake and smile
Jaipur: The much-awaited meeting between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot was held here on Thursday two days after Pilot returned from Delhi, marking a happy ending to the over a month-long political uncertainty in the state.
The two leaders met before the Congress legislative party 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 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 annoyed with us.”
It needs to be mentioned here that 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.
Senior Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, who was present at the meeting, tweeted: “There is no substitute for truth 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in the day, suspension of two MLAs, Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh, who had pledged loyalty to the Pilot camp, was revoked.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 horsetrading attempt to topple the government.
The CM also tweeted in the afternoon saying, “Our priority should be to save democracy with the feeling of forget and forgive. 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 the democracy.”
Pilot had revolted against the Gehlot government, and was camping in Delhi since the last one month with his 18 loyalist MLAs. He returned after the matter was resolved following the intervention of senior party leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Venugopal.
