New Delhi (Sputnik): India’s main opposition party Congress has faced a crisis in Rajasthan following a rebellion by a key functionary along with 18 legislators, bringing the ministry headed by Ashok Gehlot to the brink of collapse.
The rebel leader of India’s key opposition party Congress, Sachin Pilot, said on Tuesday that the party’s national leadership has agreed to set up a three-member committee to address his grievances.
Pilot on Monday met Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in an apparent attempt of rapprochement. The party also wanted to avert a crisis to its government in Rajasthan, headed by Ashok Gehlot.
Pilot, who was deputy chief of Rajasthan, raised a banner of revolt against state chief Ashok Gehlot. The party removed him as well as two ministers supporting him on 14 July.
The rebel leader, along with 18 legislators of Rajasthan, wanted a leadership change, which Congress refused to accept, but promised to look into his grievances and take appropriate actions. He, however, did not budge, forcing the national leadership to remove him from the post of chief of the Rajasthan unit of Congress.
Meanwhile, Ashok Gehlot, who accused the national governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of engineering defections in Congress, shifted his loyalists to a hotel in the fort city of Jaisalmer ahead of the session of the legislature on 14 August. There were reports that Gehlot would seek a confidence vote on that day.
The BJP has also shifted its legislators to a resort in neighbouring Gujarat state amid reports that some of them were unhappy with the party leadership. BJP state unit chief Satish Poonia alleged Congress was trying to influence his party legislators.
The opposition party Congress lost its government in Madhya Pradesh in a similar manner, when Jyotiraditya Scindia along with 22 legislators rebelled against the party, leading to the collapse of the government headed by Kamal Nath. The rebel Congress legislators later resigned their membership, paving the way for the BJP to form a government with the support of independent legislators.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
