'People Who Create Factions Can Never Be Loyal To Party': Gehlot's Swipe At Sachin Pilot

Gehlot made the statement on a day Pilot launched a 125-km-long "Jan Sangharsh Yatra" from Ajmer to Jaipur

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a veiled attack on former deputy Sachin Pilot on Thursday said that those who create factions ("Thari-Mhari karte hai") can never become successful and loyal to the party. Gehlot made the statement on a day Pilot launched a 125-km-long "Jan Sangharsh Yatra" from Ajmer to Jaipur to raise the issue of corruption and the leaking of question papers for state government recruitment exams.

"In a democracy, those who take everyone along become successful and those who create factions can never become successful," said Gehlot at the inauguration of a statue of former Congress leader Pandit Nawal Kishore Sharma in Jaipur, according to PTI

"Those indulging in factionalism (Thari-Mhari karte hai) can never become successful. They are never loyal to the party. Loyalty is very important," he further said.

Gehlot and Pilot have been at loggerheads over the chief minister's post ever since the Congress formed the government in Rajasthan in December 2018. In July 2020, Pilot led a rebellion in the party for a change in leadership in the state, but it failed.

Congress Distances Itself From Yatra

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Congress on Thursday said that it had nothing to do with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot's five-day march from Ajmer to Jaipur over corruption and termed it as his "personal yatra".

The state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasara said a Congress yatra is taken out when the AICC or the state units give any programme for it. He also said that yatras organised by the party have photos of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

"This is his personal yatra. This is not a Congress organisation yatra,” he told reporters in Jaipur, according to PTI.

Pilot, who is the Congress MLA from Tonk, launched his 125-km 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' from Ajmer on Thursday. Before starting the march, Pilot addressed a public gathering on the Jaipur Highway and asserted his march was not against anyone but against corruption and for protecting the interest of the youth of the state.