The first round of political turmoil going on in Rajasthan went in favour of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The high command justified all the complaints of Gehlot and removed Sachin Pilot from all party and government positions.
Gehlot had complained to the high command about Pilot’s “conspiracy” to topple the Rajasthan government with the BJP’s help. Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Tuesday sealed the deal and announced the removal of the three ministers. With this, the Congress ended the first part of the 48- hour long political drama.
After the removal of Pilot, Gehlot was given an open hand. First, at his suggestion, Govind Singh Dotasara, who was once close to Sachin Pilot, was made the state Congress president. At the same time, all the leaders who were supporting Pilot were replaced. Simultaneously, the Chief Minister also got involved in the reorganisation of his Cabinet. Space can be given now to new faces as Gehlot spoke about this with the ministers. Although Gehlot expressed unhappiness over the removal of three ministers, including Pilot, at the same time he reminded that these ministers joined hands with the BJP in an attempt to overthrow their own government.
The Congress has not yet expelled any rebels from the party, including Pilot; therefore, the second and last part of the political turmoil will start from Wednesday. This can challenge the government to prove a majority and the Congress will have to look into the matter if Pilot joins the BJP with his supporters. Such a move by Pilot will prove the allegations on him of toppling the government together with the BJP to be true. Second, under the defection law, the membership of MLAs will automatically terminate. It means that the government will easily get the majority in the House.
Sources say that the Chief Minister has handed over the letter of support of 104 MLAs to the Governor. Now it is up to Pilot and the BJP to decide what steps to take in a day or two. However, the chances of Pilot remaining in the Congress are slim. This was evident from the way BJP sympathised with Pilot after he was sacked from the post of minister.
Sources say that Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been given this responsibility. There are also reports that Pilot has met the BJP president once. Since Pilot could not get more than 30 MLAs on his side, the case was put on hold. Om Mathur, according to sources, went to Jaipur only after the green signal of the high command, so that it can be explained to the state leadership that Pilot will do the politics of Delhi.
One thing that is to be noted here is that former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje remained silent on the issue. The leaders of the state who are considered to be her fiercest opponents, however, welcomed Pilot.
Things would get clearer only on Wednesday. But from today’s scenario and how the Congress has taken a tough stance, the only option left for Pilot is either form his own party or join the BJP. Meanwhile Rajasthan Police’s Special Operation Group has issued a notice to him. Whether this will push him to join the BJP or not, only time will tell.