New Delhi: Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot has now ended his daylong fast at the Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur. He had sat on ‘dharna’ on Tuesday morning to demand action in cases of alleged corruption related to the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state. The Congress leader, however, said that the movement against corruption will continue.
Sachin Pilot launched his fast despite a warning by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Rajasthan, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who on Monday evening said any such protest against the state government would amount to anti-party activity and go against the party’s interest.
He offered floral tributes to social reformer Jyotirao Phule at his portrait and launched his fast at 11 am. A banner put up at the venue of Pilot’s gitation read — “Vasundhara Sarkar Me Hue Bhrastachar Ke Viruddh Anshan” (Fast against corruption during Vasundhara Raje government).
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— Sachin Pilot (@SachinPilot) April 11, 2023
Pilot had announced his decision to sit on a fast at a press conference on Sunday. During the presser, he also targeted the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan for not taking action against the alleged corruption of the BJP government in the state, led by Vasundhara Raje.
His agitation amid a factional feud in the Congress is now being seen as an attempt to put pressure on the party high-command to resolve the leadership issue in the state ahead of the Assembly polls due by the year-end.
Pilot and Gehlot have been at loggerheads ever since Congress formed the government in the state in 2018. The Congress high command appointed Gehlot to the top post for a third time and Pilot was made his deputy.
In July 2020, Pilot and a section of Congress MLAs rebelled openly against Gehlot, demanding a change of leadership in the state. It led to a month-long political crisis that ended after the party’s high command’s assurance to look into the issues raised by Pilot.
Following the revolt by Pilot and 18 other MLAs, Gehlot had used several derogatory terms for his former deputy and had accused him of being involved with BJP leaders in a conspiracy to topple the Congress government in the state.
In September last year, a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting was convened at the chief minister’s residence to pass a one-line resolution authorising the party high-command to take a decision on a change in the state leadership as Gehlot was in the race for the party president’s post.
However, the meeting could not take place because a parallel meeting was convened at the residence of the state parliamentary affairs minister, where many of the Congress MLAs offered their resignation letters addressed to the Assembly speaker against any move of the party high command to make Pilot the new chief minister.