Rajasthan Govt Survived 2020 Rebellion Due To Sonia And Rahul's 'Strong Leadership': Minister

In a dig at Sachin Pilot, a state minister claimed that the Congress government in Rajasthan survived a 2020 rebellion because 102 MLAs trusted the "strong leadership" of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said on Tuesday that no one else should be mistakenly credited with the Congress government's survival in Rajasthan in 2020 because 102 MLAs put their faith in the "strong leadership" of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. His remarks came amid a new spat between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, who served as Gehlot's deputy during the '2020 rebellion crisis', when Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs defied Gehlot's leadership.

Khachariyawas told reporters in Jaipur in response to a question about the current situation in the state: "No one should believe that he saved the Congress government. Because 102 MLAs had faith in the Congress leadership, including Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, the government was saved. The minister claimed that he responded quickly to the crisis, and 102 MLAs also affirmed their confidence in the 'strong leadership' of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 

The month-long crisis was brought to an end by the intervention of the party's high command. Pilot was then fired as deputy chief minister and president of the state legislature.

Khachariyawas also said: "This is the reason the government survived in Rajasthan. The government could not have survived without Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi...and their messengers K C Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Ajay Maken".

On Sunday, Chief Minister Gehlot said his government had survived the 2020 political crisis because two BJP leaders, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and former Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal, did not support a plot to destabilise an elected government through money power.

Addressing a gathering in Dholpur, he also slammed the rebel Congress MLAs, saying they should return the money they took from the BJP so they can do their job without being pressured.

On Tuesday, Pilot fired back at Gehlot, claiming that his speech in Dholpur reflected that his leader is Vasundhara Raje, not Sonia Gandhi. Pilot also categorically denied Gehlot's allegations that the MLAs who rebelled against him in 2020 took money from the BJP and should repay it to Amit Shah.