Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia on Thursday rejected as baseless Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s allegations that his party had a role in the rebellion by a group of Congress MLAs led by Sachin Pilot in 2020.
Poonia also said the BJP had nothing to do with the present crisis within the state Congress.
“Gehlot has been making these allegations for the last four years and there is no basis for these allegations and BJP has nothing to do with this episode,” he told reporters.
In an interview to NDTV, Gehlot alleged that Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah was involved in Pilot’s rebellion, when some Congress MLAs loyal to him were holed up in a Gurugram resort for more than a month.
He also alleged Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited the rebel MLAs often and claimed he had proof that an amount of Rs 10 crore was paid to each of those legislators, including Pilot.
Gehlot said Pilot is a ‘gaddar’ (traitor) and cannot replace him as he had revolted against the Congress in 2020 and tried to topple the state government.
Gehlot’s remarks triggered a war of words between him and Pilot, signalling the widening fissures in the ruling party in Rajasthan.
Taking a swipe at the Congress, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Rajendra Rathore said that even before the arrival of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan, Gehlot has started “Congress Todo Yatra”.
Rathore said in a tweet, “The fight for the chief minister’s chair which has been going on for four years will end with the departure of the government.” Meanwhile, Rajasthan Sainik Welfare Minister Rajendra Gudha, who has supported the call for making Pilot the chief minister, said the party high command should talk to each MLA.
“Talk to each MLA. I am saying that if 80 per cent of the MLAs are not with Sachin Pilot, he will give up his claim,” Gudha said.
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