“Strongest Warrior Is Sent To Border”, Quips Sachin Pilot After Losing Out Seat Next To CM Gehlot In Rajasthan Legislative Assembly

Mr Pilot, who tenanted the post of Deputy Chief Minister when he last sat in the house, had a change of seat in the assembly as he was seated on the opposite side of the house, right next to the opposition benches.

Fireworks between the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were very much on the cards and they turned out true when the Rajasthan legislative assembly convened at Jaipur earlier in the day to mark the resumption of legislative activities in the state hit by a major political turmoil over the past few weeks. While the convening of the legislative assembly in Rajasthan and the trust vote to counter BJP's no confidence motion hogged all the limelight in the political sphere, another telling impact which turned the heads of many legislators inside the Vidhan Sabha in Jaipur was a noticeable change of seat in the state assembly for former deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot. A day after forging truce with his senior Congressman and state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to mark and end to the internal rift within the Congress ranks, Sachin Pilot did not receive the best possible welcome by the BJP as the former deputy Chief Minister was repeatedly  jeered and provoked by the opposition inside the house . Mr Pilot, who tenanted the post of Deputy Chief Minister when he last sat in the house, had a change of seat in the assembly as he was seated on the opposite side of the house, right next to the opposition benches. Amid constant provocation by the opposition leaders, Pilot held his ground and came out with a rather witty reply to stun many in the opposition who played up his change of seating in the state Vidhan Sabha. "When I came to the house and found that my seat had been changed, I was wondering why. When I sat there (pointing to the government benches), I was safe. Now I am next to the opposition. Then I realized I have been sent to the sarhad (border). That is because only the bravest and most powerful warrior is sent to the border," quipped Mr Pilot, who dropped his month-long revolt against the Chief Minister earlier this week. Pilot, who was sacked as the state's deputy chief minister following his fued with CM Gelhot, used to sit next to the state CM in the legislative assembly. He is now seated in the second row, on seat number 127, next to independent MLA Sanyam Lodha. Cabinet minister Shanti Dhariwal sat next to the chief minister. The boiling stand-off between the factions of the Rajasthan state CM Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot factions within the ruling Congress came to an end yesterday and paved the way for reuniting the ruling party and getting their legislative machinery back on track. In a bizarre turn of events, the two waring camps finally ended their differences as when Mr Gehlot and Mr Pilot met yesterday for the first time since Sachin Pilot's dissent which many had been termed as revolt by the latter. During the rebellion, the Chief Minister had launched a scathing attack on Mr Pilot, even calling him "nikamma, naakara (useless)". All the differences were put behind them as the Congress fold sat together at a meeting of their MLAs at the Chief Minister's home to plan for today's session and the trust vote. Mr Gehlot made it a point at the meeting to let the rebels know that he would have won even without their support.