Gehlot downplays tussle with Pilot, asks media not to make people fight - Hindustan Times
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Gehlot downplays tussle with Pilot, asks media not to make people fight

Apr 25, 2023 12:45 PM IST

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy, Sachin Pilot, have been at loggerheads since Congress formed the government in the state in 2018

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has downplayed his protracted tussle with his former deputy, Sachin Pilot, asking the media not to make people fight.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot at a function in Jaipur on Monday. (Twitter)
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot at a function in Jaipur on Monday. (Twitter)

“Media should stick to the truth and facts…media should not make us fight with each other. They should fulfil their duty...in the public interest, the media should support the government,” he said on Monday. “I do not say present false figures or praise us falsely, but I would like the media to be run on the basis of truth. The media are under pressure from the central government, but they should promote the interest of the public.”

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Gehlot said the Congress will return to power in Rajasthan, where elections are due later this year, on the basis of its work and schemes. He added their election campaign will be focused on these schemes.

Gehlot and Pilot have been at loggerheads since Congress formed the government in the state in 2018. Pilot this month held a day-long fast against the Gehlot government for what he called inaction over the corruption during the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

The Congress called Pilot’s protest an anti-party activity even though he justified it, saying it was against the corruption of the previous Vasundhara Raje government.

Pilot claimed no action has been taken on the corruption and said that Congress as an opposition party promised an inquiry into an alleged mining scam. He said the lack of a probe can give an illusion of collusion between Gehlot and the BJP.

The Congress has asked former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath to sort out the issue.

HT on Tuesday reported Congress is likely to take up the Rajasthan crisis after the conclusion of the assembly election process in Karnataka next month.

The Congress has been firefighting in Rajasthan as Pilot has been on the warpath with Gehlot. The Congress is unlikely to replace Gehlot ahead of the assembly election.

The party has sought to tread carefully in Rajasthan after losing the 2021 Punjab assembly polls six months after replacing chief minister Amarinder Singh with Charanjit Singh Channi. Singh later quit Congress.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Sachin Saini is Special Correspondent for Rajasthan. He covers politics, tourism, forest, home, panchayati raj and rural development, and development journalism.

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